The Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, speaks after the inauguration of the “Silver Jubilee Building†of ICAR - Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) through online mode on Friday. The Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, speaks after the inauguration of the “Silver Jubilee Building†of ICAR - Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) through online mode on Friday. Says extreme efforts needed to expand the area under cultivation The Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, has stressed the need for India to become ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in raw cashew nut (RCN) production.Inaugurating the “Silver Jubilee Building†of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR), in Puttur in Karnataka, through the online mode on Thursday, he said even though India produces 7.5 lakh tonnes of RCN, it depends heavily on the imported nuts to cater to the needs of processing industries. The country, which is moving in the direction of self-reliance, should also become self-sufficient in RCN production. There is an urgent need to come out with technologies to fill this gap, he said.Scientists should do research on high-density planting, high-yielding varieties, and on better cultivation practices so that the farmers are benefited and they can get better income, Tomar said. Stating that DCR has released many cashew varieties for the benefit of farmers, the Minister said extreme efforts are needed to expand the area under cashew cultivation. It should never be allowed to come down, he said. Opportunities for women By giving more employment opportunities to women workers, cashew processing industry has been remarkable in contributing towards women empowerment, he said.Highlighting the problems faced by the cashew farmers and cashew industries, Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, said the directorate should conduct further research and come out with high-yielding varieties so that farmers could get better price for their crop and India could achieve self-sufficiency in RCN production. Need for new tech Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, said there is wide scope for area expansion and efforts should be made to disseminate new technologies to farmers under ‘Lab to Land’ concept of the Prime Minister.Stating that nearly 10,000 FPOs (farmer producer organisations) are being promoted, he said cashew farmers also would be eligible for special FPOs. Trilochana Mohapatra, Director General of ICAR, said DCR has made considerable contribution to the field of development of cashew in India since its inception in 1986. Recently it released three cashew varieties. With a germplasm collection of over 550 genotypes, DCR has the potential to come out with better high-yielding varieties to add to country’s cashew production, he said.AK Singh, Deputy Director (Horticulture), gave a brief introduction about the DCR and the new building.