Comments
In what could be a boon to cashew farmers, the Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) at Puttur, Karnataka has come out with a new hybrid, H-130, which starts yielding from the first year itself.
MG Nayak, Director-in-charge of DCR, told BusinessLine that H-130 starts setting seeds in first year itself, while other varieties start setting seeds in second or third year.
Asked about the likely yield in the first year, he said the yield per plant in the first year may be around 100-200 grams of cashewnuts.
“Though it is not a big yield, still we can expect something in the first year as this variety is taken up under ultra-high density (UHD) plantation,” he said. He said that the earlier concept was that the yield should be harvested after three years.
Under UHD plantation, where around 400-600 plants are planted on acre of land, it will make a big difference.
Around 80 plants are planted in an acre of land under the normal methodology.
Higher yields
He said the variety that was released on Wednesday may yield one kg of cashew nuts in the second year.
After third year, two-three kg of yields are likely depending on the management of the plantation.
He handed over the new variety to farmers for evaluation at farmers’ fields at the ‘Cashew Day’ in Puttur on Wednesday.
Characteristics of H 130
This particular variety has characteristics such as early flowering and long fruiting season.
The flowering starts during November-December, and fruiting takes place till April-May.
Each nut in this variety weighs around 12-13 grams on an average. Seeds of this variety are black in colour, and the variety is suited for ultra high density planting.
However, he said that H-130 is prone for tea-mosquito attack.
Supply-demand scenario
Speaking on the occasion, P Narayanaswamy, vice-chancellor of University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivammogga, said the country is producing around 8 lakh tonnes of cashew nuts and an equal quantity of it being imported, he said there is a good scope for exploring the potential of cashew cultivation in the country.
The demand for cashew nuts will reach 15 lakh tonnes by 2020, he said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.