Value chain and trend analysis in area, production and productivity of Cashew in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu
1B. Aishwarya and 2K. Sita Devi
Department of Agricultural Economics, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar - 608002 (India) E-mail: aishubala221@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Cashew is a popular horticulture crop that generates a lot of revenue. Despite having the second largest area under cashew farming (18.76 per cent), India only contributes 16.33 per cent to global production. Tamil Nadu stands in sixth position in area and production of cashew nut in India during 2019-20 with 98,000 tonnes of production from an area of 80,143 hectares. Among the various cashew growing districts of Tamil Nadu, Ariyalur district ranks first in area under cashew cultivation (29 per cent), followed by Cuddalore (25 per cent) and Pudukkottai (9 per cent). These three districts occupied around 63 per cent of total cashew area in Tamil Nadu. Based on this background information, this study has been designed to analyse the growth in area, production and productivity of cashew in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. The findings of the study indicated that there is need for farmers to go into processing of RCNs to finished products. Some of these products include edible kernel, fresh cashew apple juice, cashew milk and wine. The products can be sold locally in order to earn extra income and improve their livelihoods. The value addition can be actualized through the effort of group dynamics in producing communities.