Technology integration for profitable cashew nut cultivation in backward district of West Bengal.

摘要

Over the years, India emerges as one of the important players in the global map of cashew nut cultivation. Changing food habits and increasing purchasing power of a section of population has created steady demand of cashew. With keeping in the mind Lodhasuli GP under West Midnapore district of West Bengal, was considered as the one of the area that can be benefitted to the livelihood security of poor from the intervention of cashew nut crop. The district is characterized with skewed distribution of rainfall which in absence of proper water harvesting structure runs-off quite fast creates permanent zone eroded soil and is not best for the agronomic crops. The remaining vast upland has the potentials to grow cashew. The cashew plantation in this area is quite old. The orchard management suffers from some of the common ills like poor care and management. The farmers have poor access to extension services and technology for improving productivity in the cashew orchard. We have undertaken intervention in cashew to improve the overall activity with the measures like rejuvenation of old orchard, intercropping to optimize land, market linkage, training on pest management and nutrient management. The intervention covered 124 numbers of farmers with an area of 25 hectare in the first year and another 21.5 hectare in the second year with 101 numbers of farmers. The economics of rejuvenation through proper management techniques have given the best be benefit cost ratio around 1:5 and again the Rs 536,322 of income have received with the farmers after properly intercropped the orchard with the pineapple and papaya.