<p></p><p>The general body meeting of the Cashew Exporters and Manufacturers Association has requested the State government to declare cashew processing as a sick industry.The meeting pointed out that while at the international level cashew processing had become mechanised resulting in bringing down production costs, in Kerala cost of production was going up because of wage hike decisions, which did not take the practical side into consideration.The wage hike had converted cashew processing into a loss venture, which in turn had resulted in many factories lying closed, a resolution adopted by the meeting said. Some other factories were operating because of commitments to financial institutions over loans. Once these loans were cleared, the owners might decide to close those factories too, it said. <br></p> <h2>Migration</h2> <p>Taking advantage of the situation in Kerala, cashew processing was growing in many States within the country. Many processors from Kerala had migrated to other States. Failure by successive governments to understand the problems in running the industry coupled with vote bank politics had brought about such a situation, the resolution said.<br></p><p></p>