Cashew Cultivation (Complete Guide)

Introduction

in this article, I’m going to tell you about Cashew Cultivation. The cashew tree is a tropical evergreen tree that produces the cashew seed and cashew apple.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

• Kingdom –  Plantae
• Oder      –  Sapindales
• Family   –  Anacardiaceae
• Genus   –  Anacardium
• Species –  Occidentale
• Scientific  Name – Anacardium  occidentale

PARTS OF CASHEW FRUITS

• Cashew apple
• nut
• shell

APPLE

Cashew apple is the fleshy part of the cashew fruit attached to the cashew nut and to the stem that comes of the tree.

CASHEW NUT

In one fruit have 2 nuts. It is a very tasty food

CASHEW SHELL

Outer cover of cashew nuts.

VARIETIES OF CASHEW

• Kondachchi
• Mannar
• Trinidad
• Batticoloa
• Shanthiguda
• Mixed

CASHEW CULTIVATION

• Soil requirement – Sandy or sandy loam soil
• 200 Cashew trees required per 1ha
• Recommended space  –  7.5m * 7.5m or 8m*8m
• Suitable temperature – 25⁰C
• Yield – Can get 5-10Kg yield from 1 tree when trees are 11-15 years of age
• Mostly use budded cashew plant for cultivation
• Wedge grafting method is most suitable for cashew plant

Irrigation

• Mature trees should receive 1800 litter of water per tree every 2 weeks.
• Normally drip irrigation system used for irrigation in commercial cultivation.

Fertilizer application

• Fertilizer recommendation is,
  •                 urea -500g
  •                 TSP -125g
  •                 MOP -125g    per tree per year
• farmyard manure or compost -10-15 Kg per tree annually

PRUNING

• The trees are shaped b removing lower branches, dead branches and water shoots coming from the base during the first 3-4 years.
• Thereafter little or no pruning is necessary. The plant should be allowed to grow by maintaining a single stem up to 0.75-1.0 m from the ground level

PEST AND DISEASES

COMMON PEST

• Cashew weevil
  • Coconut bug
  • Helopeitis bug

DISEASES

• Angular leaf spot
  • Anthracnose
  • Black mould

HARVESTING

• Cashew harvesting can take place about two months after the fruit set, when the apple takes on a pink or red cast and the nut turns grey.
• After harvesting twist the nuts off of the apples by hand.

HARVEST AND PROCESS

check out my other article: How to Grow Guava at Home (Complete Guide)