Cashew for Enhancing livelihoods of Poor Families in Tribal Areas

Yogesh G. Sawant

2011. National Expert Consultation on Cashew. Challenges and Strategies for higher productivity and quality of cashew. Dec. 23-24. Directorate of Cashew Research, ICAR, Puttur, Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka.

  1. Background:

When it comes to Livelihoods and quality of lives, the situation of rural India, especially Tribal dominated regions in the villages is alarming. The factors below reflect the situation of the farmers at large and tribal’s engaged in agriculture in particular.

A. Distribution of Landholdings: Small and Marginal Holdings on the Rise

About 86% of the marginal and small farmers operate around 43 % of agricultural land while 14% of medium and large farmers operate around 37 % of the land (Source: Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoodsin the Unorganized Sector published by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) in August 2007). There is a slow but definite shift out of agriculture. The trend has been disturbing as the chasm between the affluent and those barely surviving is widening.

Table 1. Distribution of Operational Holdings and Area by Size: All India

Operated Area / 1953-54 / 1961-62 / 1971-72 / 1981-82 / 1991-92 / 2002-03
Operational Holdings as per cent to Total Rural Holdings
Marginal / 39.2 / 39.1 / 45.8 / 55.5 / 62.8 / 69.7 / 70.0
Small / 20.9 / 22.6 / 22.4 / 19.5 / 17.8 / 16.3 / 15.9
Medium & Large / 40.0 / 33.3 / 31.9 / 25.0 / 19.5 / 14.0 / 14.1
Operational Holdings as per cent to Total Area
Marginal / 4.4 / 6.9 / 9.2 / 11.5 / 15.6 / 22.6 / 21.7
Small / 10.0 / 12.3 / 14.8 / 16.6 / 18.7 / 20.9 / 20.3
Medium & Large / 84.6 / 80.8 / 76.0 / 71.9 / 65.7 / 56.5 / 57.9

Note: Marginal (Less than 1.00), Small (1.01-2.00), Medium-Large (>2.00) Hectares.

Source: NSSO Survey on Land Holdings, Various Rounds

B. Poor Education Levels

Table 2 below summarizes the education level attained by rural farm workers in India. Legacy

as well as contemporary reality has contributed to a situation of low level of education of

agricultural workers. The situation of women is even worse than the men folk.Lack of education is a major cause of exploitation of farmers by middlemen/ landlords.

Table 2. Percentage of Educational Attainment of Rural Agricultural Workers 2004-2005

Education Level / Male / Female / Total / Male / Female / Total
Agricultural Laborers / Farmers
Illiterate &Below Primary / 65.9 / 85.5 / 74.1 / 45.7 / 74.0 / 57.5
Primary / 15.7 / 7.5 / 12.3 / 16.2 / 10.8 / 14.0
Middle / 13.3 / 5.3 / 10.0 / 18.9 / 9.5 / 15.0
Secondary / 3.7 / 1.2 / 2.6 / 10.3 / 3.9 / 7.6
Higher Secondary & Above / 1.5 / 0.4 / 1.0 / 8.9 / 1.9 / 6.0
Total / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0

Source: NSS 61st Round 2004-2005, Employment-Unemployment Survey

C. Cultivation is still Predominant Activity

The table below indicates that more than 96% of the total land possessed by farming householdsis devoted to cultivation. Only among the near landless (less than 0.01 ha of land) dairyingand other farming activity such as poultry is a major activity. Orchards and plantations arelow at 3%.There is minimum diversification of activities among the farmers. The lack ofdiversification further adds to woes of farmers during adverse times.

Table 3. Cultivation: Predominant Activity across land holdings

Land Size(Hectares) / Cultivation & Allied Agriculture / Orchards & Plantations / Dairy / Fishery / Other activities (Animals, bees, poultry etc)
<0.01 / 14.3 / 1.7 / 68.8 / 0.0 / 15.2
0.01-0.40 / 93.3 / 5.3 / 0.8 / 0.4 / 0.3
0.4-1.00 / 95.9 / 3.2 / 0.4 / 0.4 / 0.1
1.01-2.00 / 96.5 / 2.9 / 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.2
2.01-4.00 / 96.1 / 3.3 / 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.1
4.01-10.00 / 96.7 / 2.7 / 0.3 / 0.1 / 0.2
>10.10 / 97.5 / 2.0 / 0.2 / 0.1 / 0.2
All / 96.2 / 3.1 / 0.4 / 0.2 / 0.1

Note: Sub-Marginal (<0.4), Marginal (0.40-1.00), Small (1.01-2.00), Semi-Medium (2.00-4.00), Large (>4.00) Hectares.

Source: NSS 59th Round 2002-2003.

D. Seasonal Migration

Migration typically takes place when workers in the source area are unable to find suitableemployment options. As per NCRL there are more than 10 million seasonal/circular workers.The workers often have to work in difficult circumstances. They are often exploitedby middlemen, live and work in deplorable conditions and lack access to medical facilities.

E. Indebtedness

Lack of awareness and inability to access formal credit channels are some of the reasonscomplicating this problem. Small and marginal farmers require credit for cultivation. Especially for cash crops they require high investment in inputmaterials and labour. Many states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka recordeda spurt in distress induced suicides among farmers.The commonthread was the failure of cash crops and lack of formal credit channels.

2. The Wadi Programme and Cashew:

The Wadi programme was launched in interior villages of Vansda block, Navsari district of South Gujarat by BAIF in 1982. The need to find a permanent and people centric solution for the above mentioned problems was at the rootof the Wadi Program. This area was representative of the typical problemsaffecting tribal areas/communities viz: The livelihoods of the tribal community wereseverely affected due to indiscriminate destruction of forests, scarcity of food and drinkingwater. The tribal’s were practicing rainfed agriculture hence cultivation was only duringkharif. Production was poor due to lack of improved cultivation practices. After harvest ofkharif crop the families had no option but to migrate to adjacent areas (Vapi, Valsad, andNasik) in search of livelihoods. Migration was characterized with exploitation anddiscontinued education of children. Lack of health care options, weak communication, poorhousing and poor sanitation added to the problems.The attachment of the tribal’s to their land was central to the design of the Wadiprogram. In addition to cultivated lands the tribal families owned some arid land alongslopes. After several explorations and discussions with the local community it was decided to put these underutilized lands to use through plantation of fruit trees. While selecting the fruit trees the following factors had to be taken into consideration:

  • Agro-climatic conditions
  • Market demand
  • Preference of the farmers

The farmers had great inclination for Mango and hence Mango was the major crop introduced initially. Later on it was realized that plantation of mango trees by thousands of families would lead to huge

production leading to market glut. Mango is a perishable fruit and hence alternatives needed to be worked out. This was followed by exploration through experts to identify other suitable fruit species. Cashew was selected as the suitable species due to the following factors:

  • It establishes well on poor soils
  • The climatic factors were favorable
  • It thrives well without irrigation
  • Cashew nuts have longer shelf life
  • Value addition is possible through processing.

Since Cashew was being newly introduced not only in the area but in the state of Gujarat, initially there were several doubts raised by the local community as well as others. The suggested varieties are Vengurla 4 and Ullal. These varieties were introduced in combination with Mango. Each farmer was provided support for establishing one acre of Wadi (Agri-horti-forestry) which consisted of Cashew grafts, mango grafts, forest tree species along the border and intercropping with seasonal crops. Since the plantations are established on waste lands it was also essential to take-up soil conservation and water resources development measures. The coverage of the Wadis is presented in the table below:

Table: Coverage of Wadis in Gujarat

Batch no & Year of Joining / No. of Families / Wadi Acreage
Batch-I (1995-1996) / 1143 / 1073.00
Batch-II (1996-1997) / 2841 / 2442.00
Batch-III (1997-1998) / 2441 / 2373.00
Batch-IV (1998-1999) / 1522 / 1449.00
Batch-V (1999-2000) / 3532 / 3311.50
Batch-VI (2000-2001) / 643 / 643.00
Batch-VII (2001-2002) / 705 / 604.50
Batch –VIII (2002-2003) / 69 / 69.00
Batch- IX (2003-2004) / 767 / 767.00
Total / 13663 / 12732.5

Note: Nearly 5000 Wadis have been established from 1982 to 1990

Since Cashew was a new crop in the area staff and farmers trainings were organized with support from NRCC and Vengurla Research Station. The plantations came into fruiting from the fourth year onwards. Once the produce started flowing in, the question of marketing came into focus. It was further decided to take-up aggregation of the produced Cashew followed by processing at local level. Farmers’ cooperatives were established for handling the processing and marketing operations. The cooperatives are involved in processing of cashew as well as mango. 10 such cashew processing units have been established in the project area. These cooperatives process more than 200 Tones of cashew annually. Cashew nut is a byproduct of the cashew processing activity. The Cashewnut shell is further processed to produce CNSL (Cashew Nut Shell Liquid).

4. Programme Impacts:The programme has hence resulted into several impacts as under:

  • Stable Livelihoods: The Wadi owning families now have ensured source of income from their fruit and forest trees. What is more important that this income is received during the summer season when there is no other income source within the village. The averageincome from the Wadi is Rs. 25,000 per annum from the fruit and forestry trees.
  • Migration Checked: Earlier the families were forced to migrate in search of livelihoods after harvest of the Kharif crop. Due to an assured source of income through the developed Wadis the farmers are no longer forced to migrate in search of work. They have instead started staying within the villages taking-up additional income generation activities.
  • Community Actions: The poor families that were struggling to meet the needs of their families have now come together to undertake collective activities like processing and marketing of Cashew. They are involved in managing the co-operative activities for the benefit of community at large.
  • Employment Generation: The cashew processing activity has helped in generating employment for several individuals. At present nearly 250 individuals are directly employed in the Cashew processing and marketing activity. The processing activity has also ensured value addition nearly upto 50% on the raw nuts.

5. Replication of the Wadi Concept :

The success of the Wadi Program in Gujarat paved the way for it to be extended to otherstates. Since it addressed critical requirements such as food and employment security,increase in income, etc; it was rolled out to the other states (Maharashtra, Rajasthan,Karnataka) through funding support from state Governments and other funding agencies.Presently 1.55 lakh families have directly benefited through Wadi Program implementedby BAIF in seven states. In 2005, NABARD introduced the “Tribal Development Fund” for emulating theprogram in various parts of the country. Through TDF the Wadi Program is being replicatedin 15 states through nearly 75 NGO’s. The cumulative coverage of the Wadi Program so faris around 2 lakh families hence nearly 75,000 Ha of underutilized lands have been convertedinto productive assets. While doing this, Cashew is the most common fruit species being introduced in these locations. The high preference for Cashew is mainly due to its ability to sustain harsh conditions and the good value it fetches in the market.

6. Challenges:

While Cashew is being established in several locations as a main crop for income generation some major challenges being faced are as under.

  • Variations in productivity:In case of Cashew plantations it is observed that there exists a wide range in productivity from farmers to farmer. This fact persists,in spite of the same variety and similar management practices. One of the major contributing factors is variation in soil conditions. Theproductivity is very low in poor soil conditions. In view of this a set of package of practices have been developed in consultation with NRCC for improving the soil conditions and eventually improving the productivity. This package of practices involve green manuring, In-situ composting, organic manuring coupled with chemical fertilizer application, pruning, tree shaping, soil loosening,root pruning, pest management, etc. This package of practices has been adopted by nearly 2000 farmers. In several cases this has resulted in more than 100% increase in yields.
  • Seedling plantations:It is observed that in several locations (especially Orissa and Chattisgarh) there is a trend of establishing plantations through seedlings. While the seedling plantations have better survival rates theproductivity is quite low as well as the nut size too is small. Seedling plantations are equally important for promoting varietal diversity, howeverfor commercial purpose a proportion of newplantations should be promoted through grafting. This will help in enhancing productivity and result in better quality of produce.
  • Availability of Quality Grafts: Shortage of supply of grafts has been a constraint in promoting Cashew plantations mainly in states of Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The quality of grafts made available from commercial nurseries is inconsistent. This is a major factor leading to low survival rates and inconsistent performance, which further discourages farmers to take-up cashew plantations. Strategies need to be developed for increasing the availability grafts and ensuring quality of the same.
  • Old Plantations:In several locations like costal Maharashtra, Goa, Chattisgarh and Orissa,cashew plantations have been promoted decades ago. These plantations have surpassed their peak productivities and are exhibiting a decline in productivity. Collection of cashew from these plantations is a major source of livelihoods for poor families in these areas. An integrated effort for rejuvenating these old trees through grafting as well as soil and water conservation will help promote the productivity of these plantations. This will contribute to the national production as well as enhance incomes of the families involved in collection.
  • Pest Problems: Some of the major pest problems observed in Cashew are stem borer and Tea mosquito. Tea mosquito is known to reduce productivity drastically. It is essential to promote awareness among farmers on early control of the pest. It is also essential to develop better understanding of the pest problems for preventive measures and develop varieties that are resistant to the pest problem.
  • Cashew Varieties: Further research on identification and developing cashew varieties is essential. Some of the desirable traits to be considered for selection are frost resistant varieties, early fruiting for dry areas, better resistance to pests and better productivity on poor soil conditions. Also there is a need for identification of region specific varieties with respect to productivity. NRCC and Vengurla Research station have identified varieties like NRCC 2 and Vegurla 1, which can be propagated through seed plantations. Increased availability of pure seed material will help in rapid promotion of productive plantations through seed sowing as well.