Tamil Nadu’s cashew capital

The Panruti variety is rated high because of its unique flavour

On a hot summer day, cashew orchards in Panruti near Cuddalore are buzzing with life as farmers are busy plucking ripe cashew apples from trees during the peak season that begins in mid-April.

A.K.S. Kulandaivelu, a farmer of Mambattu village near Panruti, is hopeful of a bountiful harvest this year. The flowering of cashew trees has been satisfactory, and the harvesting has commenced.

“The season has commenced, and we will be plucking cashew apples over the next two months. The flowering has been good and we hope for a good season. However, unseasonal rain is a cause for concern as they may spoil the harvest,” he says.

The fruits are crushed, and the harvest is sun-dried at home by farmers and sold to export units.

Panruti, the cashew capital of Tamil Nadu, annually has a processing capacity of 1,50,000 tonnes, with a turnover of ₹2,000 crore.

Out of the 1,42,000 hectares under cashew cultivation in the State, Panruti accounts for about 35,000 hectares. There are around 32 export-oriented cashew production units in Panruti, besides 250 processing units and over 500 cottage industries.

This February, the Tamil Nadu Cashew Processors and Exporters Association (TNCPEA) also applied for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Panruti cashews.