Green norms stifle Palasa cashew market

The Palasa cashew processing unit operators have stopped procuring cashew nuts from the producers following restrictions from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB).

As a result, more than Rs 30 crore worth of cashew nut stocks are still lying with the farmers.

APPCB officials have served notices to processing operators asking them to stop roasting as it causes air pollution. Instead, they want the operators to boil cashew nuts. The board has set September as the deadline for switching over to the boiling method from the conventional roasting.

This year, cashew production in the region saw 15 per cent increase compared with the preceding year because of good weather conditions.

However, the APPCB notices have put paid to the processing activity. With this, the purchase of nuts from farmers also stopped from this month. The Palasa cashew processing operators have so far procured about 35 per cent of their requirement.

Each unit will require about Rs 2.5 lakh to 3.5 lakh to install a boiler.

"Though the majority of the operators are ready to invest money to change the processing method as per the APPCB norms, the workers are resisting the move," M Nooka Raju, former president of Palasa Cashew Manufacturers Association, told Business Standard.

There are about 200 units with a processing capacity of about 2,000 bags (each bag contains 80 kg of cashew nuts) a day in Palasa and its surrounding villages like Kasibugga, Haripuram, Patatekkali, Pundi, Chepara Sompeta and Mogilipadu.

To escape from the APPCB restrictions, about 30 cashew processing operators are planning to shift their units to Orissa, which is about 40 kilometres from Palasa, where there is no ban on roasting nuts, according to Nooka Raju.

"To protect the cashew industry in Palasa, we request the state government to give time till the end of this cashew season, ie up to March, to comply with the APPCB norms," Nooka Raju said.