In a recent move, the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) have asked the Karnataka government to allow the corporate body to take up cashew cultivation on leased land. As per reports, Karnataka is the major state of India to produce cashew while the average productivity of Udupi (2,080 kg) and Uttara Kannada (2,050 kg) is almost three times the national productivity.
Addressing this issue into the government and media in Mangaluru on Thursday, Isaac Vas, president of KCCI, said that the state grows about 60,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts per annum. On the other hand, the processing capacity of the state cashew industry is around 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum.
As per reports, the cashew industry of the state is importing around 2 lakh tonnes of raw cashew nut a year from the east and West Africa to fill this gap.
As per the state law, the cashew industry cannot acquire agricultural land in Karnataka, Vas said.
Moreover, he said that the Government should declare cashew as a plantation crop to reduce the dependence on African nations. Such a move could help the corporate to take up scientific cultivation of cashew on leased land with the methods developed by the research centers. Self-sufficiency of raw material can be ensured through this way, he said.
What is the APMC Fee?
APMCs (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees) impose 1.5 percent market fees on raw cashew nuts, he said while urging the Government to exempt raw cashew nut from the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing Regulation Act. On the other hand, a similar fee is not observed in other Southern states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, he said.
Moreover, the APMC’s demand of market fee on imports has resulted in big disputes.
He has also highlighted some issues of the cashew department with the customs department. Referring to the issues being faced by the cashew industry from the Customs Department, he said the prices in the cashew market are volatile in nature.
The Customs Department wrongly assumes that the values are under-declared and regularly subjects the consignments to reassessment. Such a move is stifling the cashew manufacturing units that are already reeling under liquidity crisis, he added.
