Cashew nuts, a predominant crop in the southern region of Manica province, yielded about 90 million meticais to producers in the 2020/21 marketing year.
In this period 2,700 tons of cashew nuts were commercialized. The districts of Machaze, Sussundenga, Gondola and Macate are the largest producers of this cash crop.
The provincial director of Agriculture and Fisheries in Manica, Ernesto Lopes, revealed that about 1,700 tons of cashew nuts were commercialized in this campaign.
Lopes was speaking during the II ordinary session of the Provincial Executive Council of Manica that took place recently, in the city of Chimoio, the provincial capital.
In the occasion, Lopes underlined that the expansion of cashew park in Manica province is a challenge for the next times.
In the coming years, the production should also be made in the northern region of the province, specifically in the districts of Tambara, Macossa and Guro, where the agro-climatic conditions are favorable to this cash crop.
“In this campaign, the cost per kilogram is 33 meticais. Yields are considered good and, as a result, there are more producers interested in this crop because it is profitable,” he explained.
According to the director, the increase in production involves the multiplication of more cashew seedlings.
“We are massifying the production of seedlings. We had planned 150 thousand in the previous campaign. Now we are planning 230 thousand seedlings because of the need to expand this culture. We are only in four districts and the average production is 5 thousand tons per year,” said Lopes.
“We want to grow and cover all the semi-arid regions. We are already in the Macossa district, but the bet is to reach Guro and Tambara. For this, we need to increase the production areas. Therefore, we invite the population to join this culture,” he said.
