STUDIES OF CASHEW CULTIVATION IN HILLY TRIPURA: IMPROVING THE SOCIO-ECONOMICAL STATUS AND THE PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS

Abstract

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is a commercially important crop in the international trade, which offers considerable scope for enhancing the economy of our country and state by earning more foreign exchange and by generating more employment potential. The agro-climatic conditions (humid subtropical), fertile and acidic soil with good depth and abundant rainfall favour the cultivation of cashew in the state. Tripura has an undulating topography (small and medium hillocks) of red-lataritic soil having the opportunity for commercial cultivation of eco-friendly cashew for maintaining sustainable production. The area under cashew cultivation in Tripura is 4,387 ha with an annual production of 2,345.00 mt, an average productivity of 0.53 t ha-1, which is far below the national productivity. The main cashew genotypes evaluated in the state are ‘BLA-39-4’, ‘Priyanka’ (H 1591), ‘Vengurla-4’, ‘Ullal-1’, ‘Ullal-3’, ‘Dhana’ (H 1608), ‘NRCC Selection-2’, ‘BPP-8’, ‘Jhargram-1’, ‘V.R.I-3’ and ‘Bhashkara’. Out of all cultivars and hybrids studies, the cultivar ‘BLA-39-4’ was found to show good performance in respect to yield and other quality parameters. The seedling progenies are heterogeneous with respect to flowering, fruiting and other characteristics due to the cross pollinated nature. To overcome this problem, vegetatively propagated cashew grafts are recommended as planting martial i.e., soft-wood grafting for early, uniform and quality yield. The grafting is done in the months of June-July with success rates of 75-90% and success rates less in the cooler months like October, November, December and January, respectively. Low productivity recorded in the state is due to improper management and most of the orchards are having the problem of water stress from November to March, leading to severe moisture stress and heavy rain from May to September causes heavy soil erosion, nutrition loss from top soil. The soil across the state is acidic in nature, which hampers the availability of important nutrients to the plants and affects the yield. Most of the farmers are small and marginal and very rarely make use of soil amendments like lime in the gardens. Depletion of nutrients by washing of rich top soil and leaching losses cause nutritional deficiencies. Cashew provides nutrition, generates income, improves the socio-economical status and poverty alleviation in rural and interior areas of the state. This paper would focus on potential of cashew cultivation in Tripura and improving the economy in rural and interior area of the state.