<p></p><p>Just as India is blaming Tanzania for the reduction in cashew nut imports, claiming that the produce is auctioned at a high price, the cashew nut board of Tanzania is hitting back and disputing the claim. The board’s Dar es Salaam branch manager, Mr Mumi Ayubu, says there was no truth in the claims raised by Indian companies. </p> <p>"There might be problems with information about the prices of cashew nuts. We are worried with the middlemen who are used by Indian traders to buy the crop," said Mr Ayubu. He said the Indian traders had no direct contact to the board and fell victim to middlemen. </p><p> According to Mr Ayubu, in May last year, the board decided to raise the farm gate price of every kg of cashew nuts from Sh800 ($0.50) to Sh1,200 ($0.73) in order to cover some costs that farmers incur. Last week, Indian traders claimed that Tanzania had just increased its price per ton from $900-1,000 sold last year to $1,500 — much higher than ceiling price of $1,100 per ton. Mr Ayubu said the price of cashew nuts could not be increased to that level and that the government had pegged the price of a kilo of cashew nuts at a dollar. </p><p>On the other hand, he noted that issues like the global financial crisis and the India rupee could cause problems in the cashew nut trade between Tanzania and India. Citing that whatever goes wrong in the international market of cashew nuts, it directly affects Indian cashew nuts import and Tanzania cashew nut export, as, to date, Tanzania only exports cashew nuts to India. The board is planning to address some challenges by encouraging farmers to increase cashew nuts production by replacing old species, encouraging individuals to invest in cashew nuts processing industries at home, and expand cashew nuts farming to other areas.<br></p><p></p>