The Portuguese planted cashew trees in Goa not for the nut, but to stop hillsides from washing away. Five centuries later, India exports the nut worldwide.
🌴 Origins and Where It Grows
From Erosion Fix to Export Crop
- Origin Cashew is native to Brazil and was brought to Goa by the Portuguese around 1560.
- Original Purpose It was first planted to control soil erosion on Goa’s hilly slopes, not for the nut.
- West Coast Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra.
- East Coast Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal.
- Top Producer Maharashtra leads national output, with its Konkan region (Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts) accounting for over 75% of the state’s cashew area.
🌴 Production and Trade
National Output
- 2024-25 India produced about 802,000 tonnes of raw cashew, up 1.01% from 794,000 tonnes in 2023-24.
- By Production Maharashtra leads (~197,300 t, 2022-23), followed by Andhra Pradesh (~133,800 t) and Odisha (~126,100 t).
- By Area Odisha has the largest area under cashew (2.23 lakh ha), ahead of Andhra Pradesh (1.98 lakh ha) and Maharashtra (1.91 lakh ha) — Maharashtra leads production despite less area, reflecting higher productivity in its Konkan belt.
Exports
- Global Rank India ranks 4th worldwide in shelled cashew kernel exports, with a 6.60% market share (APEDA).
- Also an Importer India is also the world’s 12th-largest importer of raw cashew nuts in shell, since domestic processing capacity exceeds domestic raw-nut supply.
- FY2025-26 Exports Cashew kernels: 32,999 tonnes ($265.08 million). Raw nuts in shell: 77,806 tonnes ($114.12 million). Roasted/value-added products: 3,002 tonnes ($24.62 million). Cashew shell liquid: 38,649 tonnes ($26.76 million).
- Top Buyers Vietnam, UAE, the Netherlands, Japan, and Spain.
Test Yourself
🌟 Culture and Livelihoods
Beyond the Nut
- A Foreign Name Early Malayalam names for cashew, like “parangi maavu,” literally meant “foreigner’s tree” — a linguistic trace of its Portuguese introduction.
- Feni In Goa, the cashew apple (the fruit the nut grows from) is fermented into feni, a traditional local spirit.
- Employment The cashew processing industry employs over 10 lakh people across India, mostly in labour-intensive kernel extraction.
Beyond the answer
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