Page 152 - economic review

Industry and Labour124

6. Production and Marketing Incentive – The scheme aims for the promotion of production
and marketing including export of coir and coir products. An amount of 4.00 crore is the
allocation during the current year.

7. Market Development Assistance for the Sale of Coir and Coir Products – The sheme is for
the promotion of sales of coir and coir products. Current years allocation for state share is
5.00 crore.

Challenges

3.141 Major challenges faced by Coir Industry are weak procurement of coconut husk, increased
production cost, shortage of coir fibre, pollution in traditional method of retting and husk beating,
competition from synthetic and cheaper materials, lack of professional management and migration
of workers to other areas.

Cashew Industry

3.142 India is the largest producer, processor, exporter, and the second largest consumer of cashew
in the world which is an important commercial horticulture crop.India’s processing capacity of cashew
far exceeds its production of raw nuts, with only half of the cashews processed in the country being
produced domestically. The industry is highly dependent on imported raw-materials for value addition
and the export marketing is highly competitive which is the most unfortunate situation. Also the
export prices have been rising faster than the import prices in international markets. The increasing
gap between exports and imports apparently indicates that India is losing competitive advantage in
the cashew value chain. One of the key factors in favour of expanding the cashew industry in India
is the stable price in the International market when compared to other nuts.

Cashew Industry- Kerala scenario

3.143 The Cashew Industry in Kerala is a Traditional Industry mainly concentrated in Kollam
District and is mainly controlled by private sector. Kerala was also among the first regions in the
country where cashew-processing started as a cottage industry. The industry has a long history of
employing large numbers of workers in decentralised units. The industry is highly labour intensive
which employs more than 3, 00,000 workers, barely literate and majority of them are women and
provides an important source of income for low-income groups. The skills of these workers do not
include any entrepreneurial capacities and Cashew processing is a highly labour-intensive activity
which includes grading and packaging of finished products.

3.144 While exports of cashew kernels from India have been declining, those from Kerala are
declining faster both in terms of quantity and value. Kerala is thus losing its share in cashew exports
and resulting in decline in foreign exchange earnings. It shows diversion of cashew nuts to domestic
markets, ie consumption of cashew is increasing, at the same time raw nut production is decreasing.
During 2013-14, the import of cashew through Cochin Port was 201955 tonnes, while the export of
cashew and cashew kernels was 85882 tonnes, which is only 42.5 percentage of the import. The
Export of Cashew & Foreign exchange earnings are given under External Trade in Chapter 6.

3.145 Kerala had been at the top in production of cashew nuts in the early 90s, but gradually dropped
to the 4th position after Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa. In 1993−94, Kerala had an area
of 1,56,000 hectares (ha) under cashew cultivation, which continuously declined to 72,000 ha during
2009−10, and during 2013-14 it is slightly increased to 84,930 ha. Area under Cashew Cultivation
and Yield per acre has been decreased in Kerala mainly due to the replacement of cashew with
remunerative crops like rubber and rapid urbanisation.

Kerala State Planning Board