Cashew cultivation on 20,000 acres in N/E

Ishara Mudugamuwa

The Cashew Corporation has already taken steps to grow cashew on 20,000 acres of land in the North and East under the Uthuru Vasanthaya program and would establish a cashew training and cashew collecting center in Ampara under the Negenahira Navodaya program, said Cashew Corporation Vice Chairman Priyanath M. Piyadasa.

Cashew is an important cash crop of Sri Lanka which was introduced from Brazil.

It is found that more than half of the cashew extent is confined to the dry zone of the country, especially in the districts of Puttalam, Kurunegala, Matale, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Ampara, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Ratnapura, Batticaloa, Moneragala and Hambantota. According to the statistics of the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation, the total extent of land available to cultivate cashew in these districts is around 40,528 hectares whereas in the rest of the districts, the extent is estimated to be around 4913 hectares. "Our aim is to become one of the top most countries in the field of cashew by producing high quality products.

We plan to produce break pads from cashew husk with the support of a Chinese company.