Berhampur ITI to launch cashew processing course

The Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) here plans to launch a Certificate Course on cashew processing from the next month. The three-month course will train the students on cashew processing, machine operation and its maintenance.

The course, claimed as the first of its kind in the country, will be run through public, private partnership (PPP), where the teachers of the ITI will impart training to the students while the State Cashew Processors’ Association (SCPA) will provide the technical know-how. The Access Development Services, a national level agency, will coordinate the course.

The Industry Department of the state government has given its nod for the start of the course at ITI, Berhampur. A10-day training to trainers (ToT) programme was conducted here on Saturday.

The experts in cashew processing field imparted training to at least 15 teachers of the ITI and they will also help in developing the study material for the course.

Rajat Kumar Panigrahi, the principal of ITI, Berhampur, said, the innovative course will help in meeting the demand of skilled manpower in the cashew industry in the country. “A number of skilled technicians are required for the cashew industries in India as well as in the African countries like Ghana, Mozambique”, said Rajendra Sabot, the president of SCPA.

Stating that cashew processing is now a thriving industry, he said, the cultivation of cashew, undertaken in around 8.68 lakh hectares in the country, yields an output of 6.65 lakh tonnes annually. Around 5 lakh people, most of them rural women, are being engaged in both cultivation and processing of cashew.

Orissa, according to the sources, produces around 90,000 tonnes of cashew with an area of 1.31 lakh hectares under cultivation.

Orissa accounts for about 13.5 percent of total cashew production in the country.

About 250 cashew processing units with a combined capacity to process 75,000 tonnes of cashew per annum are functioning in the state. 

Districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Koraput and Nabaranagapur prominently figure in cashew production and processing in the state.

The team leader of the Access Development Services, BP Panda, said he would try to include the course in the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT)’s Modular Employment Scheme (MES).

The Access Development Services is working for the development of the cashew sector in Ganjam and Gajapati districts for the last three years.