With falling production, cashew requires incorporation of technology and management to increase yield

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical (Fortaleza-CE), released this Thursday, the 20th, preliminary data, therefore subject to adjustments, for the 2021 cashew harvest. National production of cashew nuts stood at 110.669 tons. The number is lower than that recorded in the last harvest, when 139.921 tons of the fruit were produced, that is, a drop of 21% in one year. The data was announced through a live broadcast on Embrapa's YouTube channel.

The numbers for the three main cashew nut producing states were also released. Together, they represent 90% of total cashew production in Brazil. Ceará, the largest producer, recorded a 16% drop compared to the previous harvest, falling from 85,1 thousand tons in 2020 to 60 thousand tons last year. The yield also decreased: from 316 kilos of cashew nuts per hectare, it was reduced to 233 kilos of cashew nuts per hectare.

Piauí also recorded a drop in cashew nut production. The numbers fell from 23,1 thousand tons in 2020 to 19 thousand tons in 2021. The yield also followed the same downward trend, decreasing from 326 kilos of cashew nuts per hectare to 263 kilos of cashew nuts per hectare within a year. Pedro Andrade, supervisor of IBGE's Agricultural Research in Piauí, highlights the need to adopt adequate management aimed at increasing production.

In Rio Grande do Norte, production was 16,6 thousand tons, with a yield of 331 kilos of cashew nuts per hectare. According to Elder Costa, senior technologist at IBGE in Rio Grande do Norte, the numbers remained stable with a slight reduction compared to the previous year.

Challenges to cashew cultivation

According to Regina Dias, supervisor of Agricultural Statistics at IBGE in Ceará, the reduction in production can be explained both by the reduction in planted area and by the drop in yield. "Yield decreased because there was less rain and it was irregular. There were phytosanitary problems, for part of the year, causing producers to prefer to sell cashew nuts rather than cashews, as the price was better and , in some municipalities, the harvest was shorter", he analyzes.

Whiteflies, for example, are a serious problem for cashew orchards, and can cause 100% losses in production by causing three types of damage to the plant. The pest acts first by sucking the sap, then injecting toxins and, finally, covering the leaf with fungi that feed on the feces left by the insect. The "tight skirt" caterpillar and the "pink" cochineal were also pests identified as relevant.

Pest prevention is essential

When it comes to pest management, population monitoring and measuring the damage caused are fundamental practices for correct decision-making. Lindemberg Mesquita, researcher at Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical and entomologist, states that there is currently a record of around a hundred species of insects and mites associated with the cashew tree, which attack all organs of the plant.

“These insects, depending on the region, can cause more than 30% of production losses and damage to the quality of products (almonds and peduncles), in addition to reducing the useful life of orchards, by causing plant mortality”, he explains.

Lindemberg Mesquita highlights that a major challenge for producers is having to decide, among the various pest control options for a crop, which one is most appropriate and when to apply it rationally. “The correct identification of the pest and its bioecology, associated with the time of occurrence and the plant's development phase, is essential information for determining the level of control and the consequent measure to be adopted”, she argues.

Technologies serve irrigated and rainfed crops

Genésio Vasconcelos, head of Technology Transfer at Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical, states that there are already alternatives to increase the profitability of cashew farming, making it an activity with high economic, social and environmentally sustainable performance.

As examples, the head of TT highlights micro-drip irrigation with a productivity of 3.000 kg of nuts per hectare and super-density cultivation, in addition to the use of superior genetic material. For those who produce under a rainfed regime, the options are the use of dwarf cashew clones, the adoption of good agricultural practices (soil correction, fertilization, pruning, disease control, among others), as well as post-harvest and agro-industrial processing.