ABSTRACT
Large-scale processing and trading of cashew began in South India in the 1920s. Since then, global production and trade of raw cashew nut and of processed cashew kernel have grown rapidly. According to Kerala's Directorate of Economics and Statistics, however, the area under cashew cultivation in Kerala is only 275,000 acres, and the annual production of raw cashew nut is only 100,000 tonnes. For the “smuggled” nuts, private cashew manufacturers and traders are able to give the cashew growers in Kerala high prices above the fixed price. Therefore, Kerala's government actually only procures a relatively small amount of the raw cashew nut produced in Kerala – in 1994, it was only 27 percent. Generally, cultivators let cashew grow with less care than is given to most other crops. Weeding on cashew plantations is not widespread; harvesting remains the most labor-intensive operation, but lasts only for about four months.
