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Our Bureau

Kochi, Dec. 21 Though the government is still to take a final call on the location of the Cashew Board in the country, there is increasing possibility of it being set up either in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Orissa or Karnataka, some of the bigger cashew producing States in the country, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power, said.

Addressing a press conference, he said a study by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade had recommended setting up of a promotional body for cashew in the country. This recommendation was brought to the notice of the Union Ministry of Agriculture which has also concurred with this view. India was the largest importer and exporter of cashew in the world as well as the second largest consumer of this commodity, producing close to half a million tonnes of cashew every year.

But declining production trends and increasing competition from some African countries, which had commenced value addition, is posing a threat to the country’s dominance in the cashew sector. As the processing capacity and value addition spreads to other producing countries, the position of India as the dominant importer and exporter could be questioned. This would call for increased production and productivity which can be better coordinated by the Cashew Board.

Having the largest number of processing units in the country, Kerala accounted for close to 70 per cent of the cashew processing but was far lower in terms of raw cashew production. Consequently, the possibility of setting up the Cashew Board in Kerala has become distinctly remote.

Mr Jairam Ramesh pointed out that a new pepper clone, which has been developed in Kozhikode is offering good promise and potential but needed more support from the cultivators. There was also a need for an integrated agency for the production and marketing of pepper in the country. The need for a more focused approach to pepper production was discussed with the Union Agriculture Ministry. The Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode, has developed around 16 varieties of pepper which are high yielding, disease resistant and produce good quality pepper. Large scale field level demonstration of varieties such as IISR Shakthi has also been recommended in order to popularise them .

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