Raw cashew output may fall 30% on crop damage

Raw cashew nut prices rise 14% to Rs 85 per kg

Raw cashew prices are likely to rise this year, as the domestic production is estimated to go down at least 30 per cent. The prices have gone up 12-14 per cent to touch Rs 85 a kg in several growing regions in Konkan, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Prices of raw cashew nut range between Rs 80 and Rs 85 a kg in the Konkan and Maharashtra regions, while in coastal Karnataka and Kerala they vary between Rs 65 and Rs 70 a kg. While the prices are more or less in the same range as in the last year in coastal Karnataka and Kerala after touching a high of Rs 80 in March, the prices in Konkan and Maharashtra are still ruling at Rs 85 a  kg, after unseasonal rain damaged the grown up crop in these areas in April and early May.

Last year, Phailin cyclone damaged cashew orchards in about 50,000 hectares in the Ganjam district of Odisha and Srikakulm in Andhra Pradesh. The unseasonal rain between April and May this year affected the harvesting in the west coast areas. Overall, the crop loss is estimated at 30 per cent over the last year’s production of 750,000 tonnes.

“Initially, prices soared in Karnataka and cooled as the harvesting season progressed. In Maharashtra and Konkan, prices still remain at Rs 80-85 per kg levels. Currently, the sentiment is low because of unseasonal rain that damaged the grown up crop. We expect this year’s production to slip 30 per cent,” said Walter D’Souza, former chairman of Cashew Export Promotion Council of India and a cashew processor in Mangalore. He said the current year production could come down by at least 200,000 tonnes.

However, the Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development (DCCD) said the new plantations would compensate for the loss in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Orchards planted after 2000-01 have started yielding nuts, said Venkatesh N Hubballi, Director, DCCD.

“The cashew tress that were damaged due to the Phailin cyclone were old and were low-yielding. It was not a very big loss in terms of output. We had planted new trees, which are now bearing fruits. We estimate the current year’s production to be 700,000 metric tonnes — about six-seven per cent less than that of the previous year,” he said.

Indian processing industry requires about 1.4 million tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually. For  2013-14, India imported 758,111 tonnes valued at Rs 4,458 crore.