Untimely rain and drop in procurement rate over the past two years have caused concern among tribal farmers of Pachamalai hills located in Thuraiyur Taluk of Tiruchi district.
The scent of cashew fruits hangs over the hills at this time of the year. Farmers can be seen collecting cashew fruits, removing the seeds and spreading them in front of their homes for drying. R. Kubendiran and K. Nirmala, farmers from Thalur village in Komabi Panchayat, who were separating the collecting cashew fruits, say the yield has come down just like last time due to lack of rainfall in the past seven months.
“I have 30 cashew tress. This time, I will get only three bags of cashew seeds [80-kg bag]. Last year it was only two bags as there was no rain last time as well,” Mr. Kubendiran adds.
A good yield is eight to nine bags from his 30 trees, which he harvested two years ago. Cashew fetched up to ₹103 a kg two years before it came down to ₹65 and ₹67 over the last two years. “The heatwave has also affected the yield this time as the flowers turned black and withered in the trees.”
Farmer M. Palraj from Erikkadu village wants the State government to arrange for direct procurement of cashews from farmers here. “Private traders, largely from Salem and Cuddalore district, buy from us. We have to depend on their mercy for a good price. As they travel to the hill and transport cashews from here, they lessen our price citing transportation cost. In a supermarket in Tiruchi, the cost of a kilo of cashew ranges from ₹700 to ₹800, but we are not getting even 10% of it.”
P. Viswanathan, president, Tamil Nadu Tank and River Irrigation Farmers Association, says for the past two years cashew has not been fetching good rate. “Nearly 1 lakh hectares of cashew is cultivated across the State. As imported cashews flood the market, the price has not risen. The State has to pay special attention to cashew crop.``
Speaking to The Hindu, a district official said processing is the key challenge when it comes to cashews. However there is scope to link the Pachamalai cashew farmers with processing industries without middlemen for better rates and attempts will be made to do that this time.
In Pachamalai cashews are cultivated on around 1,300 acres every year.