Hopes of cashew farmers rise with fall in temperature

February 12, 2018

The drop in mercury over the last few weeks has boosted the cashew crop this season, but farmers are hoping for warmer day temperatures as the flowering stage is about to end. Farmers are upbeat about the prospects of a good cashew crop, though cloudy skies raised apprehensions. And now, with the weather changing and getting brighter, farmers are keeping their fingers crossed.

“Cashew plants are already showing abundant flowers. The cooler weather at night will help sustain the flowers which would be conducive to a bumper crop if all goes well,” Rajesh Molu Gaonkar, a cashew farmer from Ziltawadi, Gaondongorim, said. In Canacona, more than 5,000 farmers and their families are dependent on the cashew crop.

An estimated area of 56,735 hectares is covered under cashew cultivation in Goa, with South Goa accounting for 19,132 hectares and North Goa, 37,603 hectares. “In some places, the flowering is not so good, but similar to last season, there could be a recovery,” Madhav Sahakari of Goa Cashew Processors Association said.

Source:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com