The General Department of Customs reported that shipments of cashews in April rose by 12.8% from the previous month to reach 32,100 tonnes, bringing in US$310.1 million, up 8.4% month on month.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the cashew growing area has seen an annual decrease of 4% over the past ten years while the cultivation areas of other crops are rising.
During the 2007-2015 period, the cashew area dropped from 440,000 hectares to 290,000 hectares before rising to nearly 297,500 hectares in 2017.
However, the yield and output fell as a result of unfavourable weather.
In the time ahead, the agriculture ministry plans not to increase the growing area but will take measures to double or even triple the yield and will focus on deeper processing of cashew nuts.
