8. INTEGRATED PRODUCTION PRACTICES OF CASHEW IN SRI LANKA - G.B.B. Surendra[8]

1. INTRODUCTION

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) was introduced from Brazil to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the 16^th century. It is found that more than half of the cashew extent is confined to the dry zone of the country. Cashew is becoming an important cash crop for farmers in Sri Lanka where there is great potential for increased production for the local market as well as for export. The crop needs more attention in terms of improvement of its management in order to attain higher yields. The development of the cashew industry in the country is the responsibility of the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation under the Ministry of Plantation Industries.

In the dry zone of the country there are about 2 million ha of agricultural land that is presently undeveloped, and which could be used for cashew production. It is encouraging to note that there is a government policy shift to promote commercial farming from the subsistence agriculture the country has traditionally followed in the past. With increased production from the use of improved varieties and agro-techniques, cashew production is bound to increase, which will enhance local consumption and promote more exports. This will help in improving the quality of life and a higher standard of living of the farming community and provide greater employment for the agricultural sector.

Sri Lanka is primarily an agricultural country where this sector plays a significant role in the country’s economy, accounting for nearly 23 % of the GNP earning about 19 % of foreign exchange. Per capita income at present is US$ 550. In 1993, Sri Lanka earned Rs. 341.9 m from cashew exports.

The cashew tree begins bearing from the third year onwards and peak bearing is reached by the eighth year. Normal life span of a tree is about 30 years. The flowering season starts by November and continues up to March with subtle variations in the bearing habit in different agro-ecological regions. The most important climatological factor for the dry zone cashew farmer is the sufficiency and reliability of the annual rainfall cycle. Average rainfall of the dry zone usually varies from 889 mm to 1524 mm derived from the North-East and South-West monsoons. The cropping seasons of Maha (October-January) and Yala (March-June) coincide with the two monsoons respectively.

2. CURRENT STATUS OF CASHEW PRODUCTION

Cashew is cultivated in almost all the districts in the country. However, the extents are substantial in the dry zone areas, especially in the districts of Puttalam, Mannar, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticoloa, Polonnaruwa, Moneragala and Hambantota. The total extent of cashew in these districts is around 20,000 ha whereas in the rest of the districts, the extent is estimated to be around 2,400 ha. Percentage distribution of extents under cashew by cropping pattern and by district is given in Table 1.

Table 1. Extents of Cashew by District and by Cropping Pattern (in ha)

District	Total Number of Cashew Growing Holdings	Total Extent of Cashew Growing Holdings	Total Extent Under Cashew	Extent of Cashew According to Cropping Pattern
				Pure Stand	Mixed Stand	Scattered
Gampaha	600	5,322	2,100	115	1,887	98
Kandy	1,839	285	117	-	-	117
Matale	3,476	1,584	411	168	204	39
Nuwara Eliya	180	115	49	7	5	37
Galle	1,529	793	81	-	34	47
Hambantota	12,005	7,572	1,455	121	1,014	320
Kurunegala	32,292	28,764	7,650	1,585	2,491	3,574
Puttalam (small holdings)	14,566	13,431	6,069	3,677	1,042	1,350
Puttalam (Estates)	124	1,354	951	874	59	18
Anuradhapura	5,771	4,052	791	377	130	284
Polonnaruwa	2,836	2,237	575	109	324	142
Badulla	402	499	105	-	3	102
Moneragala	1,411	1,846	302	87	150	65
Ratnapura	778	1,222	151	16	-	135
Total	77,809	69,076	20,807	7,136	7,343	6,328

Cashew is mainly found in home gardens or cultivated in small holdings. It is estimated that out of 77,809 cashew growing allotments, 61,496 or 79 percent is cultivated in home gardens. The average size of cashew holdings by district is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Cashew Growing Holdings in Various Districts of Sri Lanka (in ha)

District	Total Number of Cashew Growing Holdings	No. of Home Gardens Growing Cashew	Average Extent of Holdings	Total Extent Under Cashew	Average Extent of Cashew per Holding
Kandy	600	537	0.48	117	0.20
Matale	1,839	1,696	0.86	411	0.22
Nuwara Eliya	180	176	0.64	49	0.27
Galle	1,529	1,230	0.52	81	0.05
Hambantota	12,005	8,510	0.63	1,455	0.12
Kurunegala	32,292	25,983	0.89	7,650	0.24
Puttalam (small holdings)	14,566	11,752	0.92	6,069	0.42
Puttalam (estates)	124	-	10.92	951	7.67
Anuradhapura	5,771	5,215	0.70	575	0.14
Polonnaruwa	2,836	2,154	0.79	575	0.20
Badulla	402	365	1.24	105	0.26
Moneragala	1,411	1,221	1.31	302	0.21
Gampaha	3,476	1,879	1.53	2,100	0.60
Ratnapura	778	778	1.57	151	0.19
Total	77,809	61,496	0.89	20,807	0.27

In the new plantations that were planted under a government subsidy scheme larger holdings have been established with improved varieties such as ‘Kondachchi’, ‘Mannar’ and ‘Trinidad’. Nearly 38 percent of the total crop area is covered by these improved varieties while 36 percent of the area is estimated to be under indigenous varieties. Estimated extent of cashew by variety and district is given in Table 3.

Table 3. Distribution of Cashew Varieties in the Districts of Sri Lanka

District	Kondachchi, Mannar & Trinidad (ha)	Batticoloa (ha)	Shanthigudu (ha)	Ulal & Vital (ha)	Mixed (ha)	Indigenous types (ha)	Total (ha)
Gampaha	-	-	-	-	-	2,100	2,100
Kandy	8	-	13	-	3	93	117
Matale	57	-	261	-	22	71	411
Nuwara Eliya	11	-	4	12	12	10	49
Galle	-	-	-	-	-	81	81
Hambantota	287	474	-	65	-	629	1,455
Kurunegala	3,270	1,241	228	431	-	2,480	7,650
Puttalam (small holdings)	3,616	-	463	582	-	1,408	6,069
Puttalam(estates)	246	-	-	-	381	324	951
Anuradhapura	33	-	177	364	27	190	791
Polonnaruwa	260	-	81	234	-	-	575
Badulla	30	-	2	26	11	36	105
Moneragala	86	21	-	128	61	6	302
Ratnapura	64	-	-	-	-	87	151
Total	7,968	1,736	1,229	1,864	495	7,515	20,807

3. PROPAGATION AND PRODUCTION OF PLANTING MATERIAL

Over 80 percent of the planting material used by farmers are seedlings. Nurseries are raised by the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation through selected nurserymen. Softwood grafting is the only vegetative propagation method practiced. Air-layering and budgrafting are also carried out in a small way, especially for home gardens and for urban areas. Raising of seedling nurseries commences in August-September and softwood grafting nurseries in May-June. Grafting is usually carried out in August and 60-70 percent success is achieved. Mother trees and scion wood are obtained from selected material maintained by the research division of the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation. Seeds are allowed to germinate in sand beds and are later transferred to polybags.

4. ESTABLISHMENT OF CASHEW ORCHARDS

In small holdings at village level, land is cleared of brush and trees using family labor during the months of August-September. Most of the cashew growing lands are flat with less than 1 % slope and terracing is therefore, seldom practiced. In red-yellow latesols and sandy regosol soils where larger canopies are formed, the usual spacing adopted by farmers is 40 ft x 40 ft. Spacing of 30 ft x 30 ft and 35 ft x 35 ft are given in soil types such as the reddish brown earths where the soil is more compact and trees give smaller canopies. High density planting is not commonly practiced by local farmers. Planting holes are dug before the monsoon rains. The usual planting hole size recommended is 2 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft for polybag seedlings as well as for grafted plants. The planting season coincides with the onset of rains in October.

5. MANAGEMENT AND AFTERCARE OF CASHEW ORCHARDS

Pruning is carried out during the first four years when extra branches are removed and cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) is applied to cut surfaces. Pennisetum polystachyon and Imperata cylindrica are the common weeds in cashew plantations which often become a fire hazard during the dry months. Slash weeding is usually practiced to control grass weeds. Herbicides such as Grammoxone or Roundup are also used to a limited extent, especially at nursery sites. State plantations also use rotary movers in between tree rows to control weed flora.

Mulching with weed residue or tree loppings and sometimes with coconut husk is carried out by many growers to keep under growth down and also conserve moisture during the dry months. Creeping cover crops such as Peuraria phaseoloides, Centrosema pubescens and bush cover crops such as Gliricidia maculata, Leucaena leucocephala and nitrogen fixing trees such as Acacia mangium are the principal cover crops used in cashew growing areas. Due to frequent fire hazards, most large-scale plantations have fire gaps laid down when cover crops are grown.

Banana is a popular inter-crop in many cashew plantations. Pineapple, papaya, pomegranate and coconut are also used as semi-perennial and perennial inter-crops in some areas. The common annuals grown in cashew plantations are Legumes (cowpea, black gram, green gram), oil crops (sesame, ground nut), and condiments such as hot pepper and onion.

Cashew is a crop that requires low management as compared to other orchard crops. Where manuring/fertilizing is adopted, it is mostly given at the pre-flowering stage. It has been reported that only 3.8 percent of the cashew is being fertilized. The usual fertilizer recommended is 2.5 kg of NPK (3:2:1) for mature trees and 1 % urea solution or locally available foliar nutrients are recommended for nurseries.

Cashew is commonly cultivated under rainfed conditions and the use of supplementary irrigation is extremely rare due to lack of water resources in the main cashew growing areas. ‘Pitcher’ irrigation was introduced some years back but has not made any significant impact on production.

Pests and Diseases

The Tea mosquito (Helopeltis antonii) and Stem borer (Plocaederus ferrugineus) are the major pests that attack the cashew. Pests of minor importance are the leaf miner (Acrocercops syngramma), leaf and blossom webber (Macalla moncusalis) which cause sporadic attacks in certain areas. Stem borer is controlled by removing damaged branches and larvae manually followed by the application of CNSL mixed with an insecticide. Population dynamics of the pest shows that July-August is the peak period of damage. The Tea mosquito is most active during the months of November-January and is easily controlled by the application of Sevin (carbaryl) in dust form or as wettable powder. In mature trees, shoot die-back is the major disease and in nurseries the common problem is damping-off disease which can be controlled with Captan or Benlate fungicide. During soft-wood grafting, root rot may cause damage to young grafts which may also succumb to bark damage from rats. The range of pests reported by growers is presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Percentage Distribution of Pests on Cashew in Growers’ Orchards

District	Stemborer	Helopeltis	Both	Unaffected by Diseases
Gampaha	94.40	66.70	66.70	5.56
Kandy	98.10	83.00	83.00	1.89
Matale	55.80	25.60	22.10	40.91
Nuwara Eliya	92.50	75.00	70.00	2.50
Galle	-	2.17	-	97.83
Hambantota	55.30	11.30	11.30	44.67
Kurunegala	76.40	42.60	36.30	17.56
Puttalam	77.00	54.80	49.20	18.60
Anuradhapura	57.20	33.20	24.00	33.65
Polonnaruwa	70.90	17.70	12.70	24.05
Badulla	89.70	64.10	59.00	5.13
Moneragala	74.60	20.90	17.90	22.39
Ratnapura	89.50	31.60	31.60	10.53
Total	68.27	36.79	32.17	27.90

6. REPLANTING AND/OR REJUVENATION OF OLD ORCHARDS

Rejuvenation by top-working is not generally practiced in cashew orchards in Sri Lanka. After approximately 30 years of age, old trees are removed and replanting is practiced. This is usually done by shifting to the middle of avenues of the old crop rows to minimize soil problems.

7. HARVESTING OF NUTS AND CASHEW YIELDS

Cashew nut harvesting is usually carried out in the months of May - July by gathering fallen nuts. In the peak season a typical farmer collects 35-40 kg per day. Harvested nuts are cleaned and sun-dried for 3 days to reduce moisture to about 8-9 %.

The average yield per tree is about 4-5 kg under the present system of management while the potential yield is around 10-14 kg. Use of unimproved planting material, poor distribution of rainfall and damage from Tea mosquito during flushing and flowering stages could be identified as the main causes for such low yields. Estimated cashew production and average yield by district is given in Table 5.

Table 5. Estimated Production and Average Yield by District

District	Bearing Extent	Average Yield/ha	Estimated Raw Nut Production (tons)
Gampaha	1,563	474	742
Kandy	74	101	7
Matale	286	228	65
Nuwara Eliya	33	121	4
Galle	50	194	10
Hambantota	942	203	191
Kurunegala	6,190	241	1,491
Puttalam (small holdings)	5,231	322	1,682
Puttalam (estates)	632	502	317
Anuradhapura	500	372	186
Polonnaruwa	180	140	25
Badulla	50	273	14
Moneragala	220	154	34
Ratnapura	57	491	28
Total	16,008	300	4,796

8. MARKETING

A combination of manual and mechanical methods are employed in the processing of cashew nuts in Sri Lanka, which helps to preserve the natural goodness of cashew kernels and also results in very high percentage of whole nuts. More than 95 percent of cashew is processed by women at cottage industry level, especially by hand shelling. The processing carried out by the Cashew Corporation is a semi-mechanized technique. The raw nuts are initially cooked in an autoclave and decorticated with manually operated cutting machines. The kernels are then roasted in electric ovens under low heat for over three hours. The kernels are then de-husked by removing the testa, then graded and packed within 24 hours. CO₂ or nitrogen gas is used in the packing process to eliminate any micro-organisms. Grading is done into whole nuts, splits, large white pieces and Baby bits. These are then packed in PVC canisters and polythene bags. Consumer packs of roasted and salted nuts are also available at supermarkets and Airlines.

Sri Lanka cashew kernels are known for their consistently bigger size. Although the main volume of kernels supplied to the world market comes in the small size of 320 counts, over 85 % of the Sri Lankan exports consist of the bigger counts of 180, 210 and 240. The average price per kg is US$ 11 (FOB). Nearly 40 percent of total production is used for local consumption and 60 percent is exported in bulk packages. Currently, the major buyers are from the middle East. More buyers from Canada, USA, Israel, U.K. and Japan are increasingly depending on Sri Lanka for their needs. Reasons behind this trend was well summed up by the Spring Tree Corporation of USA when they declared that the tastiest cashew in the world is the product from Sri Lanka. Exports of cashew kernel are presented in Table 6.

Table 6. Cashew Exports from Sri Lanka (1981-96)

Year	Quantity (Tons)	Value (Million Rupees)	Average Price (Rs./Kg)
1981	1,106.9	73.5	66.40
1982	616.8	64.6	104.73
1983	899.0	83.7	93.10
1984	128.2	17.0	132.61
1985	284.5	41.2	144.82
1986	503.4	90.7	180.17
1987	1,034.1	195.6	189.15
1988	1,116.2	208.5	186.79
1989	1,327.8	244.4	184.06
1990	1,281.0	277.0	216.24
1991	1,102.5	289.7	262.77
1992	1,062.1	236.5	222.67
1993	1,384.0	341.9	247.03
1994	389.5	112.1	287.80
1995	349.4	112.7	322.55
1996	255.1	80.0	313.73 (up to end Sept.)

The decline from 1994 is due to certain malpractices adopted by private processors to adulterate whole cashew kernel grades using pasted splits and broken grades. These practices briefly affected the Sri Lanka exports to the international market. At present, legislation has been enacted to make it mandatory for private sector exporters to obtain a clearance certificate from the Cashew Corporation prior to export.

The cost of production of cashew in Sri Lanka is much higher than other countries due to high labor costs, low efficiency and lack of technical knowhow in the production of cashew. There are also no growers’ organizations or Cooperatives to represent the interests of cashew growers.

Better varieties which give bigger kernels and higher yield have been recently developed and the industry has laid down stringent quality standards, in addition to training those involved with production and processing from the private sector. These measures have been taken to protect the cashew industry and exploit the export potential of the crop.

9. POTENTIAL FOR CASHEW NUT PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT

The following factors contribute to the development potential of the cashew industry:

• Large tracts of marginal land is available in dry zone areas which can be utilized by subsistence farmers to grow cashew as a cash crop and obtain gainful employment.
• It is a lucrative base for a small - scale industry in urban areas.
• The crop helps environmental stabilization whilst helping the country to earn valuable foreign exchange.
• When compared to other crops, cashew needs minimal inputs and production costs.
• Due to their chemical composition, cashew kernels have high keeping quality and good storability characteristics.
• In the first three years, young cashew plantations can be successfully inter-cropped to provide farmers with supplementary income until the crop gives economic yields.
• Many subsidy and credit schemes are available for cashew farmers. The Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation, the ADB funded Perennial crops Development Project, the Southern Development Authority and the Mahaveli Project are government assisted programs for improvement of crops such as cashew.

10. CONSTRAINTS IN CASHEW NUT PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT

Cultivation Constraints

• Inferior germplasm and inadequate planting material of recommended varieties.
• Lack of knowledge on improved cultural and management practices.
• Variations in weather patterns, fire hazards and weed problems.
• Under-utilization of cashew orchards and losses due to poor post-harvest practices.

Institutional Constraints

• There is no price support system for cashew.
• Poor linkages with other agricultural organizations, both locally and internationally.
• Lack of credit facilities for the processing industry.
• High cost of inputs.

Technical Constraints

• Very weak research support for the development of cashew.
• Insufficient extension staff to make programs effective.
• Technology transfer programs are weak.

Socio-Economic Constraints

• Displacement of large number of cashew growers due to civil unrest.
• High unemployment and low incomes of cashew farmers.
• Poor market and physical infra-structure including storage, processing and transport facilities.
• Poor farm-gate prices during harvesting season.

11. CONCLUDING REMARKS

Research and development activities should be strengthened to evolve appropriate technology on breeding, soil testing, disease and pest control, irrigation systems, fertilizer management and post harvest technology.

Extension services should be streamlined to keep pace with a market oriented economy. There should be better inter-agency coordination to ensure timely action on supply of inputs. In view of the increased involvement of women in the cashew industry, more women in development programs should be initiated.

Attention must be given to development of road networks and transportation, and better storage and processing facilities. The government should seriously consider establishing a price support system to help small-scale cashew farmers.