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By virtue of the relevance of the cashew nut supply chain
for the northeastern economy, particularly for Ceará, the
Ceará State Development Agency (Adece), jointly with the
productive sectors, representatives of the Cashew Sectoral
Chamber, sponsored the Development Plan for the Cashew
Nut Supply Chain of Ceará (PDCP Caju). In short, according
to researcher José Ismar Girão Parente, the aim consists in
integrating all the players of the cashew supply chain, with
the focus on reorganizing the governance in the produc-
tion hubs, ultimately seeking higher production volumes,
through an improvement of the productivity and quality of
cashew, peduncle and derivatives.
With such a vision, there is need to give priority to pro-
motional projects and innovative P&D; strengthen the un-
productive cashew nut renewal areas by means of replac-
ing the canopies and the distribution of early dwarf cashew
nut seedlings; systemize and monitor the control of diseases
and pests, whilst promoting technical assistance and quali-
ty, without overlooking the efficiency of the processes and
products at the cashew nut agroindustry.
“Within this context, it is indispensable to use TI for giving
publicity to research, development and technological innova-
tions and, at the same time, promote the growth of product
sales and its derivatives in the domestic and foreign markets”,
he insists. “This should be done with an eye on improving
farmers’ income and productivity, especially at micro, small
and medium size agroindustries, thus turning the cashew nut
supply chain more sustainable and competitive”.
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Immediate reaction
Area remained at 594,936 hectares
in 2016, down 24% from 2009
30,763 tons were produced, that is to say,
down almost 73%”, he says.
According to Parente, also technical di-
rector of the Intercaju Project, run by the
Higher Education and Technology Sci-
ence Secretariat in Ceará, the blame of
the decline goes to unfavorable weather
conditions in the producing states, over
the past five years, and to the outbreaks
of diseases and pests, besides the expres-
sive number of trees that die as a result of
old age and prolonged drought.
“The cashew nut processing industries
were greatly affected by the smaller pro-
duction of cashew nuts, which, because
of the lack of raw material, were forced to
shut down several factories, with signifi-
cant reflections on cashew nut (ACC) and
cashew nut shell liquid (LCC) exports”, he
comments.
ACC exports reached a FOB value of US$
182,015,701, in 2010, and LCC correspond-
ed to US$ 13,834,155, in 2011. ACC exports
dropped to US$ 103,206,128 and LCC ex-
ports to US$ 4,453,448, in 2016. In the case
of ACC, revenue was down almost 44%,
whilst the drop in LCC exports correspond-
ed to almost 70%. These factors equally af-
fected the cashew juice industry, which at
present is only producing 60 thousand tons.
