Exporter Develops Biodynamic Cashew

Mangalore: The domestic cashew sector is again in the forefront of delivering a niche product – biodynamic cashew – to the world market. The Mangalore-based cashew manufacturer and exporter Achal Industries, in association with 31 farmers in Goa, has become successful in producing world’s first biodynamic cashew and delivering the first shipment to an overseas buyer.

G. Giridhar Prabhu, Proprietor, Achal Industries, told Business Line that the biodynamic project was initiated by Achal with a small group of farmers — numbering 31 in Goa region who were committed to organic agriculture since 12 years — on a 95- hectares of land two years ago.

Asked about the reasons for venturing into biodynamic project, he said biodynamics is a natural extension to organic farming and there was demand from consumers in Europe for biodynamic cashew.

Prabhu said the project was offered for inspection and certification to the inspection agency — IMO Control Pvt Ltd — and the certifying agency — Demeter International E.V., Germany.

Stating that this is the first-ever biodynamic cashew project in the world, he said the product thus produced by these farmers was processed and the first consignment of 3.19 tonnes was shipped out to Germany, via The Netherlands, last week from New Mangalore Port. The consignment carries the Demeter label. This will be marketed through the German buyer, Rapunzel Ag, he said. A few tea estates in India have been producing biodynamic tea. Birth of the concept

Prabhu said the concept of biodynamic agriculture is based on the agriculture lectures delivered by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 to a small group of farmers in Koberwitz, East Germany. Biodynamic agriculture is a method of farming that aims to treat the farm as a living system that interacts with the environment, to build healthy living soil and to produce food that nourishes and helps to develop humanity.

Steiner introduced the practice of making preparations based on cow manure, silica, and various herbal plants, to be used in order to open up the soil to cosmic influences. Steiner advocated discontinuing the use of chemical fertilisers altogether. Because of their inherent lack of life, he felt, chemicals could not maintain life or increase fertility in the soil.

3,000 Tonnes Raw Cashew Damaged Due To Rains

Mangalore: While the cashew processors are worried over the continued summer rainfall as it is likely to hurt the prospects of the already harvested crop, the scientific community feels that this untimely rainfall will help in getting better yield for growers.

Many of the cashew-growing centres in Karnataka have been witnessing summer rainfall for the past one week to 10 days.

K. Prakash Rao, President of the Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers’ Association (KCMA), told Business Line that nearly 2,500-3,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts have been damaged in various harvesting and post-harvesting stages due to rainfall in Karnataka and Kerala.

“We hope that this rainfall will stop. If it continues, nearly 10,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts will be affected in Karnataka and Kerala,” he said.

The loads which are to be harvested have been heavily affected, and the process of drying of harvested crop is also affected, he said.

B. Rahul Kamath, partner of the Karkala-based Bola Surendra Kamath & Sons, said that nearly 100-120 tonnes of raw cashew nuts suffer damage every day due to rainfall. Growers will not be in a position to harvest the crop due to water logging in cashew plantations.

The ripened cashew that falls on ground will absorb moisture damaging the crop.

GOOD YIELD

Dr. T.R. Guruprasad, Associate Director of Research, Zonal Agricultural Research Station at Brahmavar in Udupi district, said that this untimely rainfall will help in getting good yield for growers.

The rainfall will help inflorescence of plants, as it will provide much-needed moisture for inflorescence for development of cashew nuts.

If moisture was not there, developing cashew nuts would have fallen. Flower and nut fall will come down because of moisture.

Stating that cashew plant bears two types of flowers (male and hermaphrodite), he said this untimely rainfall will lead to the falling of male flowers. (Male flowers do not set fruits.)

Arecanut Growers Seek Crop Cover

Mangalore: The arecanut sector, which witnessed huge crop loss due to fruit rot disease during the last season, is unhappy with the Budget. Though the sector expected insurance scheme for the crop in the Budget following the huge loss in the previous season, it did not materialise.

S.R. Rangamurthy, President of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd, told Business Line that crop insurance scheme was a must for arecanut as many farmers are dependent on this commodity.

“The arecanut sector witnessed crop loss to the tune of 40 per cent due to the onslaught of fruit rot disease last year. But there is no measure to compensate for this loss. A crop insurance scheme for arecanut would help growers,” he said.

Rangamurthy said a delegation from the sector would be taken to New Delhi soon to seek inclusion of the arecanut in the crop insurance scheme.

While presenting the Budget proposals for 2008-09, the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, had said a crop insurance scheme for tea, rubber, tobacco, chilli, ginger, turmeric, pepper and cardamom would be introduced next year.

M. Srinivasa Achar, President of All-India Areca Growers’ Association, said around 30 lakh families in the country were dependent on arecanut sector. Unlike other plantation crops that were located only in a few States, arecanut was grown in most part of the country. It was predominantly grown in Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

“In such a situation, there is no reason for leaving arecanut out of crop insurance scheme,” he said.

According to the database prepared by Directorate of Arecanut and Spices, arecanut was grown on 3.74 lakh hectares of land in the country during 2004-05. Production during that year was 4.56 lakh tonnes. Karnataka’s share during that year stood at 2.03 lakh tonnes.