Cashew nut growers from Popa area expect to get good price in early harvest season

The cashew nut cultivated around the Popa area in Kyaukpadaung Township, NyaungU District, Mandalay Region, are richly flowering. But the local growers are worried that the price will not be as good as the previous year when the fruits are started harvesting, said U Maung Nyo, a cashew nut grower from Shaw Taw village.
The cashew nut is grown mostly in Hsinhsin, Naga Laehsae, Seema and Shawtaw villages around Popa Mountain area, Kyaukpadaung township, Nyaung U district. Last year, the cashew nut price was ranged between K50,000 and K60,000 per basket. But this year, the cashew is sold for only K18,000-K20,000 per basket due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the grower clarified.
Normally, cashew plantation is a perennial plant and it is good yielded in ten years. This year, there is an increase in the cultivation of the other marketable fruits instead of mango trees due to the deteriorating market conditions. Now, people cut the cashew trees and they are growing kilo guava, six months guava, dragon fruit and Seintalone mango, said U Aung Win, the local grower from Shaw Taw village.
Normally, cashew plantations start to deliver their yields in early February. Only Shawtaw village yielded over 300 baskets of cashew.
More than two acres of cashew farmland owned by U Ohn Maung from Thitdaungmyaut village, NyaungU township are arranged to grow other marketable crops due to the collapse of the cashew market, according to U Ohn Maung. — Ko Htein-KPD/GNLM