In this spirit, the National Agricultural Research Center (Cnra) and the Cotton-Cashew Council (Cca) have sealed a partnership for the implementation of component 2 of the Project to promote the competitiveness of the agricultural value chain. cashew nut (Ppca).
The progress of this cooperation was revealed, this Thursday, May 16, 2024, during a ceremony of handing over two 4×4 type vehicles to the CNRA by the Cotton-Cashew Council, in the premises of the regional directorate of the CNRA , in Cocody.
The project aims to “make current plantations much more productive and efficient than old ones. But also to develop a program to improve productivity with new, more efficient varieties,” said Professor Sangaré Abdourahamane, the director general of the Cnra.
According to Professor Sangaré Abdourahamane, it will be a question of having a higher productivity per surface area than the current one. In this context, the CNRA will initiate the deployment phase of the technology generated through the Cashew Development Centers installed across the country.
The improved varieties obtained should make it possible to strengthen the productivity of the sector, added the director general of the CNRA, who noted the need to acquire rolling machines for researchers in order for this mission to be effective.
The partnership between the CNRA and the regulatory body, which dates from 2019, has generated numerous results. These are, according to him, the establishment of a gene bank, the collection of cashew trees, the testing of hybrids and the installation of Cashew Development Centers (CDC).
Dr Adama Coulibaly, general director of the Cotton-Cashew Cashew Council, said that the first actions undertaken enabled the installation of 23 nurseries who provided 106,000 improved plants to producers for the 2023 agricultural campaign.
He will inform that the clones made available to producers by the CNRA have also made it possible to create new plantations, mentioning that “the Cashew Development Centers constitute an essential link between the producer and the research station. »
Support in rolling stock for the CNRA should make it possible to strengthen the competitiveness of the sector. Introduced into the country decades ago, the cashew nut, which should serve as a plant cover in the face of advancing drought, is today a leading agro-industrial product.