Round Table Discussion on Development of Cashew

BHUBANESWAR, INDIA - World Trade Centre Bhubaneswar in association with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Bhubaneswar organized a round table discussion on “Development of Cashews in Odisha” here at the Conference Hall, of the O/o EDII, Bhubaneswar. The discussion brought together entrepreneurs and associate members of WTC involved in Cashew related activities, officers of EDII working towards the development of the Cashew Clusters of the State, team of WTC Bhubaneswar and representative of IDBI Bank.

The discussion focused on bringing out the generic issues of the biggest cashew cluster of Odisha which is in the Ganjam District and aimed at highlighting the specific issues faced by them. “Given the existing potentials, pertinently addressing the issues of the cluster would definitely help it develop and perform in a much better manner” asserted Mr. C.R. Pattanayak, Chief Co-ordinator of EDII, Bhubaneswar while delivering a welcome note to the participants. He further hailed and expressed his confidence that such round table discussions would not only help in identifying the issues but also provide an opportunity for direct interaction amongst the various stake holders for obtaining quicker and feasible solutions. He lauded WTC Bhubaneswar for its efforts and assured all cooperation in its future endeavours. 

Mr. Gopal Roy, officer of EDII working on cluster development further briefed the participants on the existing scenario of the cluster’s functions & activities. One of the premium issues brought to the notice here was the need for mechanized and improved methods of processing the raw cashew nuts. He explained how the existing manual processing system is affecting the quality and grade of the final products. 

Apart from this availability of raw materials appeared as one of the major bottle necks, the factories in the cluster are forced shutdown for half of the year because of non-availability of raw cashews. This led to lay off of labour and other capital losses. Thirdly, lack of vacuum packaging and proper storage facilities further led down the competitiveness of the cashew nuts produced by the cluster. 

WTC Bhubaneswar assured its efforts towards facilitating the import of raw cashews. An entrepreneur and a member of the Centre showed active initiation in working on importing raw cashews of the desired quality at competitive prices and supplying to the clusters. He was further encouraged by WTC and EDII with all the required assistance for taking up the task. 

There was active discussion of the participants on finance issues with Mr. S.S. Mondal, AGM, IDBI Bank who was present there to brief on various schemes and procedures for availing financial assistance. An open house discussion on various topics like dealing and identifying frauds in imports, existing and prospective market prices of cashews, transportation issues, quality variations in cashews of various countries etc. made the discussion lively and highly informative. 

The discussion ended with a thank you note to all the participants on behalf of WTC Bhubaneswar.

PHOTO: Participants in discussion during the round table

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