Mangalore: Every one loves cashew nuts –salted or creamy, especially young people. Those at work will be delighted to have these nuts in a packet to much ever. The tenders nuts (Bibba) go in to curries in dinner parties, either alone or mixed with green vegetable (Thodekai). The fruits have a caustic, Pungent or acidic sweet taste, which has rare medicinal qualities for the tongue and belly.

The cashew juice is also used in drinks as ‘Feny’ popular in Goa. The fruits come in red and yellow colours beautifully hanging on trees with green or white nuts.

The cover is crushed for oil used in vehicles and machinery. The cashew trees grow small like shrubs but extensively, and children have fun in climbing them, to pick a fruit or two high up in the air, at less than feet.

The tree can yield dozens of fruits in March –April every year, after 3 years of growth of a sapling into a tree that flowers and yields tender cashew (raw fruits) in green that slowly turn ripe in breeze and sunshine.

They grew on hill slopes or on dry lands. One acre of land can have as many as 80 sapling growing into strong trees with many bent or crooked branches, easy to climb.

Where labour is short, a farmer can plant cashew saplings, wait for 3 years and earn a lot of money on raw nuts, also fruits oils.

The research station is in Ullal and corporation in city. There are several breeds, of such trees.

NDR 2-1 is the bread of cashew tree recommended for coastal Karnataka, yielding about 26 Kgs in a season from March to June.

2f the farmers do cashew farming in a scientific way, guided by Horticultural experts in Ullal or Baglkot, and aided by National Horticultural Mission to the extent of Rs. 20, 000 (per crop) and Rs. 25,000 (refining unit) by way of annual subsidy they will not incur losses but gain good profits.

In this context, we are happy to inform all concerned that Shivaram Suvarna of Modicare in Mangalore has secured an award for his speech relating to Modicare attempts to popularise cashew crops in sate horticulture.