"We have developed a dependence on many African countries for raw cashew," chief executive and secretary of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India KG Nair said. "Crop failures in these countries hit our exports directly and we are often helpless," he said.

Import of raw cashew nuts in 1946-47 stood at 31,545 tonnes valued at Rs 1.21 crore. This has gone up to 2,45,000 tonnes worth Rs 800 crore in 1997-98, Nair said.

The scenario has undergone drastic changes in the recent past. Most of these cashew-producing countries are installing state-of-the-art processing units for kernel exports, he said.Countries like Mozambique, Tanzania, Vietnam and Brazil have developed cashew processing capacities and started exporting kernels.

The cashew crop scene in India has not been very encouraging in the recent past. The area under cashew cultivation in Kerala has come down from 1,55,640 hectares in 1992-93 to 1,19,000 hectares in 1996-97. Production of raw cashew too has dwindled in Kerala to 1,34,000 tonnes in 1996-97 from 1,51,600 tonnes in 1992-93. However, Kerala continues to top the list of big cashew producers in the country. Maharashtra comes second with a raw cashew production of 80,000 tonnes. Andhra Pradesh with 60,000 tonnes of raw cashew production is the third.

One of the major impediments to raw cashew production in the country is the current set of land ceiling laws. In Goa for instance, cashew production has been increasing with more and more farmers going in for cashew cultivation. The advantage in Goa is that there is no Land Ceiling Act.

Being a mono crop, cashew can be grown in anyclimatic condition with little rainfall needed for the plant's growth. However, the land ceiling laws have affected productivity in a major way. The laws differ from state to state with Kerala imposing a land ceiling of a maximum of three acres on an individual. This is 60 acres in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and 108 acres in Karnatka.

Besides, cashew has not been given the plantation growth status accorded to crops like tea, coffee and cardamom.

This is not so in other parts of the world where cashew is a plantation crop.

Low productivity per unit area of cultivation is another obstacle to increased domestic production of raw cashew, Nair said.

"Though we have developed more than 30 varieties of high yielding cashew, production has not improved over the years. In 1956-57, the average productivity was 431 kgs per hectare. This has gone up to 652 kgs per hectare in 1996-97. He said there is not enough improvement in productivity.

Scientists involved in research on cashew production feel the averageproduction should be around 3,000 kgs per hectare. The installed processing capacity of Indian cashew industry per year is 8 lakh tonnes of raw nuts. Of this, domestic production is just about four lakh tonnes. Imported raw nuts cover 25 per cent of the total capacity. Meanwhile, cashew kernel exports have picked up. After having recorded a drop during 1996-97, exports touched a new high of 79,350 tonnes worth Rs 1,419.56 crore. Cashew kernel exports dipped to 68,758 tonnes worth Rs 1,281 crore during 1996-97 from the previous year's exports of 70,334 tonnes worth Rs 1,240 crore.

In 1996-97, there was a shortage of raw cashew as imports came down from 2,22,819 tonnes (Rs 760 crore) in 1995-96 to 1,92,285 (Rs 640.5 crore). But during the last fiscal there has been an increase in raw cashew imports which stood at 2,44,588 tonnes worth Rs 818 crore, He added.