Meconta, Mozambique, 5 Jul – Mozambique’s cashew nut production should reach 127,000 tonnes within five years as a result of the national plan for intensive distribution of cashew plant stocks, Prime Minister Aires Ali stated in Meconta, Nampula province.

Aires Ali was in Meconta to launch the national crop cultivation campaign. Mozambican cashew production should rise an average of 7,500 tonnes annually until the 2016/17 season, he said.

The targets can be accomplished not just by integrated cashew cultivation, with actions to control disease and parasites, but also by fighting and preventing uncontrolled burning.

The private sector must also adopt a fair price for buying cashews from producers, which should in turn encourage producers to invest in spraying the plants.

The government is investing more than 103 million meticais (about US$3.01 million) per year to purchase and distribute products to fight powdery mildew disease (oidium).

That financial effort should result in the government obtaining about 54,000 tonnes of good quality cashews this year, estimated to be worth 540 million meticais (about US$15.8 million) at current market prices.

Annual cashew nut production has recently averaged 90,000 tonnes, which according to the Maputo-based daily Noticias is awakening the interest of producers in some provinces where cashew production has long been abandoned. (macauhub)