Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

The tale of cashew trade over the years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Trade and trade relations always make for compelling stories.

The cashew industry earns crores in foreign exchange for the country and employs around 10 lakh labourers, mostly women. The nation has also to its credit the privilege of having pioneered cashew exports in 1945. And the revelation that it took the ingenuity of an English butler to develop the time-tested system of ‘vita packing’ provides an interesting sidelight.

‘The world cashew industry – an Indian perspective,’ authored by J. Rajmohan Pillai and P. Shanta, which was released at a function held in the city on Sunday, attempts to unravel the stories of ‘the poor man’s crop and the rich man’s food.’

“Not many of us know that Keralites are the pioneers of the cashew industry in the country. It is believed that cashew was first discovered by the Portuguese travellers in Eastern Brazil. Brazilians devoured the fruit but discarded the nuts. It was again the Portuguese who brought cashew to Goa and planted it along the coast to check sea erosion. The country saw processing and trading of cashew kernels take off in Kollam, Mangalore and Vettapalem in Andhra Pradesh during the 1920s,” says Mr. Pillai.

The kernels were first exported in oil cans. But at the destination, the nuts were found to have been infested with weevils.

Later, an English butler tried to store the kernels in cans infused with carbon dioxide by commissioning a soda maker, and it was found to be successful. The industry is still using the system, which has come to be known as ‘vita packing.’

Nuts have since been imported from African countries, to be processed and exported to various destinations. It has also helped to develop a flourishing cottage industry in and around Kollam. The local women are adept at processing the raw nuts and, till date, they have been able to retain the skill with finesse.

But over a period of time, India lost its frontal position to Vietnam and it was the reverses which the nation suffered at the international market that prompted Mr. Pillai to write the book in association with Ms. Shanta Kelath, who has a doctorate in plant pathology from the University of Madras.

“The book is presented in two parts. The first nine chapters formed part of my Ph.D. thesis on cashew industry in 2000 and the rest is an extension with latest details in cashew trade up to 2007. The changes in government policies and the labour unrest that rocked the foundation of the industry in the Statealso find a mention in the book,” he says.

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