Goa’s cashew industry is facing a challenging season, with erratic weather, poor pollination, and ageing trees leading to declining yields. As local farmers struggle with reduced harvests, the industry’s future looks uncertain. The Goan takes a closer look at the crisis and examines the factors contributing to this crop crisis
PANAJI
Nearly two years ago, Vishnu Joshi of Nanora-Sattari was carrying out routine cleaning activity in his cashew orchard ahead of the flowering season before winter set in.
He then accidentally discovered a buried earthen pot with 826 Portuguese-era copper coins, an invaluable treasure which, however, he had to hand over to the State government's Archives and Archaeology Department as per prevailing laws.
Irrespective of whether, like in Joshi's case, a buried treasure is found or not, cashew orchards have been yielding a bounty and a fair share of the annual incomes of innumerable Goan families who own them. Only, in recent years, the yields have been dwindling owing to a cocktail of reasons, both man-made as well as natural phenomena.
Cashew farmers, Agriculture Department officials and others are unanimous that the crop this year is "bad".
Some growers 'The Goan' spoke to say it could be up to 50 per cent lower than last year's level, but Director of Agriculture, Sandeep Fol Desai, says it's too early to quantify the shortfall in yields this year even as he admits that the crop is not satisfactory this year.
An erratic winter where temperatures kept fluctuating and sudden rains in many of the hilly-terrain regions of the State are some of the reasons being attributed for a poor cashew season this season (2024-25). These and other reasons may have adversely affected the rate of flowering and pollination before the formation of the fruit. Fruit fall, a phenomenon where the fruit drops to the ground before maturing, is another factor the cashew farmers mentioned.
"The crop this year is poor. Warm temperatures and erratic rain may have affected pollination by insects and fruit setting," said Botanist Miguel Braganza.
Braganza, a former officer with the Agriculture Department, also blames poor upkeep of cashew plantations in Goa for the falling harvests in the State. "When you get higher yields per tree, one needs to manure the trees and also take up soil and water conservation works. The Bill Cosby principle 'YOU CAN'T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING' is always at play," Braganza said.
He also said that he suspects a 'communication failure' between the cashew growers and the scientific community in the agriculture sector, including those from the Agriculture Department. "ICAR-CCARI, at Ela, Old Goa, has developed technology for cashew which is available on their interactive website, but very few cashew growers even know that it exists," he said.
Braganza, who worked at the Goa Agriculture Department for nearly two decades before opting for voluntary retirement and freelancing as a consultant, said the Department's officials are overburdened with administrative work and left with very little time for fieldwork.
"Assistant Agriculture Officers are now mired in office work. Bad software has aggravated it. Very little fieldwork is done," Braganza said.
Low per-hectare yields in Goa
"Cashew trees in Goa typically yield on average one kilogram of nuts. Many of the orchards have ageing trees, which is impacting overall output. Creepers and overgrowth are affecting production," said Rajaram Mavalankar of Pernem, who is a progressive cashew farmer.
According to the Agriculture Department data, cashew covers approximately 57,000 hectares across the State and last season (2023-24) the net production was 24,240 tonnes with a per-hectare average yield of 425 kgs. The national average is 700-plus kgs per hectare.
Meanwhile, cashew production across the globe is also being estimated to be lower this year. According to the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC), global production in the 2024/25 season fell by 1.5% as compared to last year, down to 5.288 million mt.
Processing industry struggling in recent years
The cashew nut industry in Goa has been struggling for a plethora of reasons, prime amongst them being stiff competition from the neighbouring States of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
In recent years, hundreds of cashew processing units have been set up in nearby regions of these two States such as Kolhapur and Belagavi, where labour is cheaper and raw nuts supply is not erratic, says a member of the Goa Cashew Growers Association.
Cashew produced in the State is insufficient for the processing industry here, and many have to rely on imports from other States, including Odisha, besides African countries.
