VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS

District : Pudukottai

Block

: Gandarvakottai

Cluster

: Gandarvakottai & Kallakottai

Location

: Mudhukulam , Mattankal & Veeradipatti Panchyats

Habitation

: 1. Atchuthapuram, 2. Mookkapadaiyan pallam, 3. Mudhukulam 4. Veeradipatty 5. Mattankal

Name of the activity

: Cashew nut cultivation & Process

Cashew nut - Index

Introduction of cashew resources with rainfall History of cashew tree & nuts Climate Requirement Process for cashew nuts Model of sales calculation Cashew nut- Nutritions Vitamin contents Quality of cashew nuts Uses of Cashew nuts Marketing Conclusion

VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS

Pudukkottai district is bound on the North and North West by Trichirapalli district, Sivagangai district on the West and South West, on the East and North East by Thanjavur district and on the South East by Bay of Bengal. The district was formed in January 1974 out of certain pockets of then Trichy and Thanjavur districts, having an area of 4663 sq.km with a coastal line of 39 km. The average rainfall of the district is 920 mm per year. The frequency of rainfall is also uncertain. Even though the district has more number of tanks, most of the tanks are silted in nature. So the water holding capacity of the tanks is very poor. This often leads to water scarcity for irrigation during the critical stages of the crops, especially during maturity. The major crops of Pudukkottai district are Paddy, Groundnut, Cashew, Sugarcane, Pulses, Fruits, Coconut and Gingelly. Cashew is one of the most valuable processed nuts on global commodity markets and has the potential to generate employment and revenue for developing countries. We have visited Mudhukulam panchayat of Gandarvakottai block for study in cashew nut & tree. 5 habitations (Mudhukulam, Atchuthapuram, Veeradipatty, Mattankal & Mookkapudaiyanpallam) are covered in Mudhukulam Panchayat and 1860 families are living in the Panchayat & totally 3728 hectares of lands are irrigated to agriculture for cashew, groundnut, Sugarcane, & Paddy. Major lands are occupied in cashew nut process. Cashew germinates slowly and poorly; several nuts are usually planted to the hole and thinned later. Propagation is generally by seeds, but may be vegetative from grafting, air-layering or inarching. Planting should be done in situ as cashew seedlings do not transplant easily. Recommended spacing is 10 x 10 m, thinned to 20 x 20 m after about 10 years, with maximum planting of 250 trees/ha. Once established, field needs little care. Intercropping may be done the first few years, with cotton, peanut, or yams. Fruits are produced after three years, during which lower branches and suckers are removed. Full production is attained by 10th year and continues to bear until about 30 years old. In dry areas, like Tanzania, flowering occurs in dry season, and fruits mature in 2&3 months. Flowers and fruits in various degrees of development are often present in same panicle.

The fruit (nut) The nut is attached to the lower portion of the cashew apple which is conically shaped. The cashew nut (seed) hangs at the bottom of the apple, and is c-shaped. The cashew seed has within the outside shell the edible kernel or nut. In its raw form the cashew kernel is soft, white and meaty. When roasted it changes colour and taste. Salted, it appeals to the palate as the most delicious nut. Cashew apples and cashew nuts are excellent sources of nutrition. The cashew apple contains five times more vitamin C than an orange and contains more calcium, iron and vitamin B1 than other fruit such as citrus, avocados and bananas. Cashew shell oil extracted from the shells is caustic and causes burns on the skin. The mucous membranes of the mouth and throat are severely affected when it comes into contact with shell oil or the irritating fumes emitted during roasting. The oily shell liquid has many uses. So we are selected to form cashew nut CLG in future because cashew nut business is very huge profit earning in rural area. So we will decide to study about to cashewnut. Cashew nut tree is a fast grower and an evergreen tropical tree. It grows to a height of 12 m. Blossoming takes place between November and January. Seedling trees flower in the third year after planting. The fruit ripens fully within 2 months. Climatic requirements

Cashew trees are genuinely tropical and very frost sensitive. The trees grow in a wide spectrum of climatic regions between the 25 N and S latitudes. Although the cashew can withstand high temperatures, a monthly mean of 25 C is regarded as optimal. Yearly rainfall of 1000 mm is sufficient for production but 1 500 to 2000 mm can be regarded as optimal. The cashew tree has a well-developed root system and can tolerate drought conditions. Rain during the flowering season causes flower abortion due to anthracnose and mildew. During harvesting, while nuts are on the ground, rain and overcast weather causes the nuts to rot or start germinating. Nuts germinate within 4 days when lying on wet soil.

Process for Cashew Nut

Exercise in Field ( Mudhukulam, Mattankal & Veeradipatty Panchayat ) We have taken 1 acre for study purpose. So this data is only for 1 acre calculation Land Total Plants Cashew nut nursery Types of plants : 1 Acre : 25 plants/tree : Rain fall season in October & November : Local Country plants & Viruthachalam II

At the time cashew nut harvesting/yielding

With water facility : 200kgs per tree in 1st harvest then 25% of Yielding Will be increased every year harvest : 25trees X 200kgs = 5000kgs : 80 Kgs : 62.5 Sacks (Approximately) : Rs 4500 : Rs 4500 X 62.5 sacks = 281250 : 100kgs per tree in 1st harvest then 25% of yielding Will be increased every year harvest in one tree : 25trees X 100 Kgs = 2500Kgs : 80 Kgs : 31 Sacks (Approximately) : Rs 4500 : Rs 4500 X 31 sacks = 139500

Results for Harvesting Per Sacks Total sacks Per Sack Total earnings per harvest

Without water

Results for harvesting Per Sacks Total sacks Per Sack Total earnings per harvest

(Approximately 100 grams will be deducted from 1kg cashew nut after drying process).

Formers have received advance amount from wholesaler before harvesting cashew nut and after harvesting the cashew nut and settled to wholesaler. But broker/wholesalers are sold to other person for Rs 5000 to 5500 per sack (approximately) but the former can sell directly to market get earn more profit per harvesting. Because of roasted cashew nut price is more then compare cashew seeds.

Roasted cashew nuts is more vitamin to health (Example Per 100 grams
cashew seed is reported to contain 542 calories, 7.6 g H2O, 17.4 g protein, 43.4 g fat, 29.2 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 2.4 g ash, 76 mg Ca, 578 mg P, 18.0 mg Fe, 0.65 mg thiamine, 0.25 mg riboflavin, 1.6 mg niacin, and 7 mg ascorbic acid. Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 561 calories, 5.2 g H2O, 17.2 g protein, 45.7 g fat, 29.3 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 2.6 g ash, 38 mg Ca, 373 mg P, 3.8 mg Fe, 15 mg Na, 464 mg K, 60 mg b-carotene equivalent, 0.43 mg thiamine, 0.25 mg riboflavin, and 1.8 mg niacin. Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 533 calories, 2.7 g H2O, 15.2 g protein, 37.0 g fat, 42.0 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 3.1 g ash, 24 mg Ca, 580 mg P, 1.8 mg Fe, 0.85 mg thiamine, 0.32 mg riboflavin, and 2.1 mg niacin. The apple contains 87.9% water, 0.2% protein, 0.1% fat, 11.6% carbohydrate, 0.2% ash, 0.01% Ca, 0.01% P, .002% Fe, 0.26% vitamin C, and 0.09% carotene.

Processing cashew seeds

The purpose of cashew nut processing is to extract the nice, healthy, tasty and nutritionous kernels from the raw nuts in shell. There are 3 phases are process steps for getting good quality of cashew nuts. (Chart & photos enclosed)

Cashew nuts are graded to 6 types of qualities.

There are Cashew kernels are graded on how white they are (W: white, S: scorched, D: dessert), how broken they are (W: whole, S: split, B: butt, P: piece) and what size they are (180 kernels/lb, 210 kernels/lb, 240 kernels/lb, 320 kernels/lb, 450 kernels/lb).

1st Quality - The cashew kernels are white, pale ivory, or light ash gray colour and they are whole, not broken. 2nd Quality - The grade of white whole kernels but the colour is darker due to overheating in the process of oil dressing or dry. 3rd Quality - The kernels are deep scorched 4th Quality - The kernels are broken in crosswise. 5th Quality - The kernels split naturally in lengthwise 6th Quality - The kernels are broken into more than two pieces & small pieces Note: 1st, 2nd and 3rd qualities are directly exported to foreign country and other qualities are sold in local marketing. Uses of Cashew nuts Premium cashew nuts : Roasted / coated with spices, chocolate or honey Distinctive cashew nuts : Cashew splits are embedded in pastry and many oriental sweets Confectionery cashew nuts : Dry roasted cashew nuts are used to ice creams and chocolates Curries cashew nuts : cashew flours paste are most Asian sweets Oil roasted cashew nuts : The biggest use of cashew is as oil. There are healthy and premium alternative to common snacks Cashew oils are used in medicine purpose for treat ailment such as scurvy, warts and ring worms & the cashew leaves are used as folk remedies for calcium deficiency and intestinal colic, cashew resins were used as a cough remedy The roasted cashew nuts are sale direct to customer without agents/brokers get more profits to earn harvest cashew nuts and cashew shells also used as fuel in hotels & Bakery

Local Marketing One sacks - 80 Kgs per sacks

Process & roasted in cashew nuts per sacks - Get 22 kgs cashew nuts from 1sack (80 kgs per sack) After process the roasted cashew nuts - Have get 3 types of quality (Q4, Q5 & Q6) will get 3:2:1 ratio quality of cashew nuts received from after roasted the cashew seeds from 1 sack ( will take only 20 kgs ) Q4 Market price - Rs560 (Approximately) per kg in local marketing Q5 Market price - Rs480 (Approximately) per kg in local marketing Q6 Market price - Rs400 (Approximately) per kg in local marketing

Q4 Market price - Rs560 X 10kgs (3 ratio in 20kgs) - Rs 5600 Q5 Market price - Rs480 X 6kgs (2 ratio in 20kgs) - Rs 2880 Q6 Market price - Rs400 X 4kgs (1 ratio in 20kgs) - Rs 1600 -------------Total Earnings Rs 10080 ------------1acre calculation Per sacks - 20 Kgs cashew nuts

31 Sacks (without water) - 20 kgs X 31 Sacks = 620 Kgs cashew nuts Total 620 Kgs 3-310kgs 2-206kgs 1-104kgs - 310kgs X Rs560 = 173600 (approx) - 206kgs X Rs480 = 98880 (approx) - 104kgs X Rs400 = 41600 (approx) ---------------------Total Earnings 225080 (approx) ----------------------

Conclusion
The former had loss half of the profit to the sale local agents or brokers. So we will try to form common livelihood group in that Panchayats & provide godown facility to formers for stored the cashew seeds at the time of harvesting period of April, May & June of every year. We have provide various training to the formers for marketing strategy and analysis,

Cashew nut Process chart

Cleaning

1 Phase

st

Sizing
Soaking in water

Hot oil roasting

2nd Phase

Sizing

Shelling Drying

Peeling

3rd Phase

Grade in 26 types
Cleaning- remove dust & others Packed as customer requirement

Cashew nut process and cultivation details photos with stage by stage

Cashew Plant

Cashew plant with flowers

Cashew nuts with flower

Cashew nuts with fruits

Cashew nuts with fruits (final)

Cashew nuts ready to harvesting

Cashew nut fruits Grading

Harvested cashew nut with fruit

Harvested Cashew nut

Roasting cashew nuts

Graded Cashew Nut

Finished product - Ready to sale