Abstract

Waste lands in many parts of the country can be turned into productive areas by being put to the permanent cultivation of useful trees like the cashewnut. The cashewnut (botanically Anacardium occidentale), thrives well in such lands on account of its hardy nature. The tree claims its heritage originally from South America, and is now well established in the coastal forests of India. It grows in a wild state and can be grown in almost all soils, although gravelly and sandy loams suit it best. The cashewnut of commerce (Tamil-Munthirikottai) is really the fruit of this tree. The flower stalk on which the 'nut' rests, is succulent and edible, and is known as cashew apple, and is mistaken by the layman for the fruit. The tree in its wild state has a spreading habit usually growing to a height of 10 to 15 feet, and rarely to 25 feet, although under cultivation it is said to have attained a height of 40 feet. When well cared for, this is a valuable and promising tree, responding well to irrigation and manuring, though it can also thrive under very adverse conditions. In the Travancore State, it is cultivated in a systematic manner, and the finished product is exported to foreign markets. Around Tanjore and in the Pudukottah State the tree grows wild, and the produce which is collected by the women folk, is either consumed locally or sent to other places through the middlemen of the Tanjore market.

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