In the hill district of Rangamati, cashew trees have started bearing fruit within three years of commercial cultivation beginning. With the trees in Kaptai upazila now yielding, farmers and those involved in the project have become hopeful. The authorities say the project was taken up to spread cashew across the hill soils, as it is a nutritious and high-value crop.

Cashew and coffee cultivation began in various unions of Kaptai upazila in 2021 under the Cashew Nut and Coffee Research, Development and Extension Project, supervised by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). Several commercial cashew orchards were set up at Karigarpara in the upazila's Raikhali union, where about 7,000 saplings of the M-23 cashew variety were planted on 50 acres belonging to 10 farmers of Raikhali union.

A visit to the orchards of farmers Sajai Pru Marma and Anupam Chakma found the cashew trees now mature and laden with fruit, the nuts hanging with colourful cashew apples across the hillsides. About four and a half thousand trees have borne fruit this year. With the crop coming in so quickly, farmers are hopeful about cashew.

Farmer Sajai Pru Marma said: "The cashew yield in my orchard has been very good. We have grown it with help from the Kaptai agriculture office. I hope we will make a profit."

Farmer Anupam Chakma said: "Ten farmers of Kaptai together planted about 7,000 saplings of the M-23 cashew variety on 50 acres with help from the agriculture office, and they have now started bearing. I hope the trees that did not bear this year will be full of fruit next year."

Imran Ahmed, agriculture officer at the Kaptai upazila office of the DAE, said: "The project was taken up to spread cashew across the hill soils, as it is a nutritious and high-value crop. Coffee and cashew have been grown on about 30 hectares in Kaptai upazila. We hope more cashew will be grown in the hills in future."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.