(Production Technology of Cashewnut ppt, Economic Importance, Morphology, soil and climatic requirements, Varieties, Propagation, Spacing, Pest and Disease, HARVESTING, YIELD)
Production Technology of Cashewnut ppt
Table of Contents
Production Technology of Cashewnut ppt
In this article, we are going to learn the Production Technology of Cashewnut. Cashewnut tree is a tropical evergreen tree that can also be grown in subtropical regions. Cashewnut is mainly grown for its seed and the cashew apple (accessory fruit).
Cashewnut (Kaju)
Common name – Kaju(Hindi), cashew, anacardio (Italian)
Botanical name – Anacardium occidentale
Family- Anacardiaceae
Origin- South Eastern Brazil
Economic Importance of Cashewnut
1. Cashew nut is rich in proteins and vitamins A, B, and E.
2. Kernel gives 40% oil.
3. Testa rich in tannins used in leather industry testa with kernel pieces used as poultry feed.
4. Cashew apple is a rich source of Vitamin C (5 times more than Citrus),
contain 10-12% sugars.
5. In Goa Feni (liquor) is prepared from Cashew apple.
6. Apple is dried and powdered into a meal and used as animal feed.
7. CNSL is a bi-product. It is phenol. It is used for resin
Morphology of Cashewnut
•The cashew tree is a spreading, low-branched, evergreen, and medium-sized tree. It can grow to a height of 6-12 m.
•Root:-The cashew tree has a deep taproot and develops many lateral roots that enable its survival during dry periods.
•Shoot System:-It has intensive and extensive types of branching. An intensive shoot grows to 25 to 30cm terminates into a panicle and 3-8 laterals arise from below the panicle. It leads to bushy growth. An extensive shoot grows to 20-30 cm. bud sprouts below and leads to further growth.
•Leaves:- The leaves are alternate, leathery, borne in terminal clusters, oval-obovate-shaped, 10-20 cm long x 5-10 cm broad.
•Inflorescence:-The inflorescences are 15-25 cm long terminal panicles of male, female and bisexual flowers.
•Flowers:-Flowers are pentamerous, no more than 1 cm in diameter, yellowish-pink in colour, and very fragrant. They are attractive to bees and provide a good source of honey.
- Fruits and seed: The fruit is a kidney-shaped nut consisting of a double-walled shell with a hard epicarp, a poisonous mesocarp and a thin endocarp, and an edible kernel surrounded by a thin testa. The fruit does not split open at maturity, but once its fruit is fully grown but not ripe, its receptacle swells and becomes a fleshy, juicy, pear or apple-shaped edible pseudofruit that is called the cashew apple. This pseudofruit has a very conspicuous yellow, red or red-and-yellow colour.
soil and climatic requirements for Cashewnut
soil:
If you achieve a high yield in the production technology of Cashewnut it is an important step.
•Red sandy loam, lateritic soils, and coastal sands with slightly acidic pH are best for cashew.
•Heavy clay soils with poor drainage and soils with pH more than 8.0 are not suitable for cashew cultivation.
•Water stagnation and flooding are not congenial for cashew.
Climate:
Cashew is a tropical plant and can thrive even at high temperatures. Young plants are sensitive to frost. The distribution of cashew is restricted to altitudes up to 700 m above mean sea level where the temperature does not fall below 20°C for a prolonged period. Areas, where the temperatures range from 20 to 30°C with annual precipitation of 1000 – 2000 mm, are ideal for cashew growing. However, temperatures above 36°C between the flowering and fruiting period could adversely affect the fruit setting and retention. Heavy rainfall, evenly distributed throughout the year is not favourable though the trees may grow and sometimes set fruit.
Varieties of Cashew
Tamilnadu varieties:-
1.Vridhachalam 1(M10/4):- Relesed from regional research station vridhachalam tamilnadu in 1981 . Selection from Vazisodanipalam material. . It is suitable for Coastal regions.
Flowering time:- January- April
- Fruiting time:- Feb.- May
- Apple colour – yellow with a slightly red tinge
- Nut weight and yield:- 5g and 7.0 kg per tree
2. Vridhachalam 2:- it is also released from regional research station vridhachalam Tamilnadu in 1985.Selected from kattu palli .
- Apple colour – pinkish yellow
- Flowering:- Feb – April
Fruiting:- March-May - Nut weight:- 5.1 g
Average yield per tree:-7.4 kg - Other varieties :- vri-3,vri -4
Vri (CW) H1
Kerala varieties:-
•1.Akshaya(H-7-6):- Released from Cashew Research Station, Kerala Agriculture University, Kerala
•Hybrid (H-4-7×K-30-1)
•Flowring:- December- January
•Fruiting:- January – March
Apple colour:- yellow
•Nut weight – 11g
•Average yield/tree:- 11.78 kg
2.Amrutha(H-1597):- it is Relesed from Cashew Research Station ,KAU ,Madakkathara in 1998.
•Hybrid (BLA139-1×H-3-13)
•Flowring :- December-january
•Fruiting:- January- March
•Apple colour :- yellow
•Nut weight and Averageyield/ tree :- 7.18 g/ 18.3 kg /tree
•Other varieties from Kerala:- Angha, Anakkayam -1, Dhana (H-1608),Dhanshree(H-3-17), K22-1 ,Kanaka, Madakkathara-1 and 2 ,Sulabha etc.
Spacing for Cashewnut
•Cashew trees are generally planted with a spacing of 7 to 9 meters adopting a square system. A spacing of 7.5 m X 7.5 m (175 plants/ ha) or 8 m X 8 m (156 plants/ ha) is recommended. High-density planting of cashew at a closer spacing of 4 m X 4 m (625 plants/ ha) in the beginning and thinning out in stages to maintain a final spacing of 8 m X 8 m in the tenth year is also recommended.
Propagation of Cashewnut
Methods like air layering, patch budding, veneer grafting, side grafting, epicotyl grafting, softwood grafting were found to be successful. However, softwood grafting has become a more suitable and commercial method of propagation of cashew nuts.
Pest and Disease Management for Cashewnut
Pest:
1. Stem and root Borer:-
Cashew stem and root borer Plocaederus ferrugineus is a serious pest both on the East and West coasts of India capable of destroying an entire cashew tree.
Symptoms of damage:-1.Stem borer infection could be easily identified by the presence of small boreholes at the collar region.•Extrusion of frass (like coarse dust powder) through holes at the collar region.
2. Oozing of gum at the base of a cashew tree trunk.
3. The grubs that hatch out bore into the bark and feed on the sub-epidermal and vascular tissues.
Control Measures:1. Collection and destruction of affected shoots
2. Swabbing the bark of exposed roots and shoots with Carbaryl 50 WP 2 g/lit. Twice a year before the onset of South West Monsoon (March – April).
3. Remove grubs from early-stage infested trees and drench the damage portion with Chlorpyriphos 0.2% @ 10 ml/lit or Neem Oil 5%.
2. Tea mosquito Bug:-Tea mosquito bug Helopeltis Antoni (TMB) is one of the major pests of cashew damaging tender shoots, inflorescence, immature nuts and apple at various stages of development.
Symptoms of damage:- Both nymphs and adults of this mirid bug suck sap from the tender flushes, young shoots, inflorescence, panicles, growing young nuts and apples.
• Occurrence of dark brown patches on a green tender stem of young shoots and inflorescence rachis.
• Feeding on tender leaves causes crinkling and curling. Affected shoots show long black lesions.
•Control measures:- Spray application of phosalone 35 EC@ 2.0 ml, followed by carbaryl 50WP @ 2g/l and monocrotophos @ 2ml/l at a vegetative flush stage, panicle initiation stage and nut formation stage respectively are recommended for the management of tea mosquito bug.
3. Apple and Nut borer: Thylocoptila panrosema
It causes 10% yield loss during years of severe infestation in certain cashew growing areas.
Symptoms of damage:
• The caterpillars attack the fruits at all stages and cause shrivelling and premature fall of nuts.
• In the early stages, the young larvae move to the joints of nut and apple scrape the epidermis and then bore into them. In later stages, they bore into tender apples and nuts and feed on them.
Control measures:-
• Removal and destruction of dead and dried inflorescence.
• Spray carbaryl 50 WP 0.1% (@ 2g / lit) at the time of fruit setting.
• Total removal and destruction of dead and dried inflorescence during the pre-flowering season is an effective cultural method for controlling the pest population.
•4. Leaf minor:- Acrocercops syngramma is a serious pest of Cashew in all Cashew growing locations in India and is one of the most important lepidopteran leafminers on this crop during post-harvest and post-monsoon flushes in India.
Symptoms of damage:-The larvae after hatching from the eggs, start mining the epidermal layer on the upper surface of the tender cashew leaves.
•Management:– Spray Monocrotophos 36 WSC 0.05% (@ i.5ml / lit) during the month of October-November at new flush emergence stage.
Disease:
•1.Dieback (Corticium salmonicolor):-Symptoms:
•It is a very common disease of cashew, often assuming great importance during the south-west monsoon period
•Whitish or pinkish growth of the fungus can be seen on the affected branches.
•The fungus penetrates into the deeper tissues and causes the death of the shoots from the tip downwards and hence the name dieback.
•After heavy rains a film of a silky thread of the fungus is seen on the branches.
In advanced stages, the bark splits and peels off. Sometimes only one branch is affected, but often many branches turn yellow and shed giving a barren appearance to a portion of the tree.
•Management:- Prune the affected branches well below the site of infection and destroy them.
•Protect the cut surfaces by applying Bordeaux paste.
•If the disease is severe, it is advisable to spray Bordeaux mixture (I %).
•Spraying is to be done twice, once in. May-June and the second during October.
•Collect all dried-up and affected branches to reduce the source of inoculum.
•Damping of(Phytophthora palmivora):- Symptoms:-The Disease occurs in nurseries where drainage conditions are poor.
The organisms attack the roots or collar region of “seedlings or both the regions and cause their death. When seedlings are infected by Phytophthora palmivora, they become pale.
Water-soaked lesions can be observed at the collar region which turns dark and girdles the stem.
The seedlings droop and ultimately the plants die.
On leaves, water-soaked lesions can be observed in severe cases. These lesions enlarge and coalesce, often covering the entire leaf lamina.
All the organisms in combination or alone may cause the disease.
•Management:-Provide adequate drainage in the beds and polythene bags.
Drench the beds/bags with 0.1 % Agallol or 1 % Bordeaux mixture
•3. Anthracnose:-Gloeosporium gloeosporioides
•The fungus infests the tender leaves, twigs and forms reddish-brown, water-soaked lesions. On the affected region exudation of resin can be seen.
•The lesions enlarge and kill the shoots. The tender leaves are crinkled and fruits shrivelled.
•The infected inflorescences turn black. Repeated Infection of the terminal shoots leads to the death of the tree in course of time.
•Management:-A combination spray of a fungicide (Cuman L 100 ml in 100 litres of water or Blitox 250 g) and an insecticide Dimecron (30 ml in 100 litres) is recommended.
•It is often claimed that the primary cause of the disease is the tea mosquito and fungi are only secondary organisms.
4. Inflorescence blight: (Colletotrichum mangiferae and Phomopsis anacardii)
•This is also a common disease in Kerala, especially during the monsoon period.
•The characteristic symptom is the drying of floral branches. The symptoms appear as minute water-soaked lesions on the main rachis and secondary rachis.
•Management:-A combination spray of a fungicide (Cuman L 100 ml in 100 litres of water or Blitox 250 g) and an insecticide Dimecron (30 ml in 100 litres) is recommended.
•It is often claimed that the primary cause of the disease is the tea mosquito and fungi are only secondary organisms.
HARVESTING OF CASHEW NUT
Plants start yielding 3rd year onwards. The peak picking months are March and May. Good nuts are grey-green, smooth, and well filled. After picking, the nuts are separated from the apple and dried in the sun for two to three days to bring down the moisture content to 10 to 12 %. Properly dried nuts are packed in alkaline bags. This will keep for 6 months.
The yield of Production Technology of Cashewnut
About 3-4 kg/tree/year can be obtained.
Read Also
