Jamtara cashew farmers seek govt intervention for survival

Cashew cultivation is the source of livelihood for Jamtara farmers. Cashew is cultivated on a large scale at the cost of only Rs 20 to 30 per kg. Although the cashew industry is flourishing in the state with around 50 acres of cashew plantation, the Jamtara farmers are facing trouble due to negligence of the government towards them.

Ranchi: Located 200 km from the state's capital - Ranchi, the city of Jamtara is renowned with the sobriquet 'Cashew City.' Thanks to the efforts of the local farmers who are taking up cashew farming on a large scale to make the city certified organic cashew cultivation.

Surprisingly, the cost of per kilogram of Cashew in Jamtara is Rs 20 to 30, which in other parts of India can cost up to Rs 1000.

Although the cashew industry is flourishing in the state with around 50 acres of cashew plantation, the Jamtara farmers are facing trouble due to negligence of the government towards them.

While speaking to ETV Bharat, the cashew farmer Ramakrishna Das said, "We want to cultivate more, but due to government's contract for 3 years we face trouble."

Contrary to farmer's three-year contract for Rs 3 lakh, the Contractor Shrikant Dubey said, "Due to lack of processing in the district, raw cashew is sent to West Bengal. We sell raw cashew nuts at Rs 150 per kg."

"Farmers believe that the government's help can change the lives of the people here. We tried to contact the administration several times to no avail," added Dubey.

The farmers said that after various attempts made to the government for the setting up a processing plant to increase cashew cultivation, nothing worked out and it was all in vain.

On this context, when ETV Bharat contacted Deputy Commissioner Ganesh Kumar, he said, "I was unaware of the difficulties faced by farmers. After investigation efforts will be made to increase cashew cultivation in the city."