By P S Ziad, Commodity Online
KOCHI: Will the decades old demand by Kerala to set up a Cashew Board in Kollam become a reality? The fate of the proposed Cashew Board hangs in the balance following differences of opinion on where to locate the board.

While two Kerala ministers in the Union Cabinet are vying for Kerala, there are other contenders as well. The all powerful Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister is apparently lobbying for Maharasthra as the apt choice since it is a leading producer of cashew.

With elections hardly four months away, the issue has gained a political dimension. Defence Minister A K Antony and Union Minister for Overseas Indians Affairs Vayalar Ravi have insisted that the Board should be set up in Kerala. P K Gurudasan, Kerala Labour Minister has also urged the Union Government to set up the Board in Kollam.

The formation of the Board assumes importance as India is facing a formidable threat as the largest producer, processor and exporter of cashew in the world from Vietnam. While India has 24 per cent of the global area under cashew, it contributes only 19 per cent of the global production.

Of the total cashew production in the country estimated at 5.7 lakh tonnes, Maharashtra is the top producer at 1.8 lakh tonnes followed by Andhra Pradesh with 92,000 tonnes, Orissa with 74,000 tonnes, and Kerala comes a distant fourth with 67,000 tonnes, according to latest available official data.

The Union Finance Ministry has raised a hurdle in the formation of the new Board by arguing that there is paucity of funds for starting the new organization while Union Agriculture Minister wants to establish it under the National Horticulture Mission.

The Union Commerce Ministry which is in favour of setting it up on the lines of other commodity boards under it has also given the go ahead for the proposal.

Commerce Ministry is in favour of setting up the Board under its jurisdiction considering the importance of the crop, which is an input for the export processing industry, providing employment to around five lakh workers mostly women in the rural areas.

The proposal sent by the Ministry for vetting by Finance and Agriculture Ministries reportedly covers all aspects of setting up the Board including financial implications, establishment cost, annual costs, development expenditure etc.

At present there are two agencies involved with the Cashew industry—the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India sponsored by Commerce Ministry and Directorate of Cocoa and Cashew Development under Ministry of Agriculture. As per the present proposal there will be no duplication of work between the two existing bodies as they will be merged with the new Board.

Interestingly, even as Kerala makes the claim to get the board, there is a dispute within the State on where exactly should it be located. Kollam being the country’s cashew processing citadel, the majority of the processors, exporters, workers and trade union leaders want it located in Kollam while a section demands the board should be in Kochi, the financial hub of the state.

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