The Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR), under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, at Puttur by joining hands with Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU) is developing a technology to produce fish feed from cashew apple, J. Dinakara Adiga, Director, DCR said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an industry interface meeting on ‘cashew apple to market’ organised by the DCR on the Cashew Day at Puttur, he said that the initiative is to make further value addition to cashew apple, in addition to various value added products of cashew apple developed by the DCR using its technologies. The fish feed will be in the form of pomace powder (of cashew apple), the Director said.
Mr. Adiga said that the country produced about 60 lakh tonnes of cashew apple per annum. But only 1 % of the production is being used for value addition. There is immense potential for making value addition of cashew apple which otherwise goes waste.
He said entrepreneurs who produce value added products of cashew apple should ensure that the products will have pan India coverage.
Mr. Adiga said that eight kg of cashew apple can be harvested while producing one kg of cashew nut. “About eight tonnes of cashew apple can be harvested from one hectare of cashew orchard,” he said.
Shree Padre, a senior farm and developmental journalist and Executive Editor of ‘Adike Pathrike’, said that Brazil used 20 % to 25 % of its cashew apple for making value added products.
The end products of researches made at government institutes should come out of the shelves and their benefits should reach farmers and farm entrepreneurs, Mr. Padre said.
By serving the value added products of cashew apple developed by the DCR to the food sector entrepreneurs at the meeting, the scientists of the Directorate sought feedback for further improving them.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)