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