BY A STAFF REPORTER
PANJIM: The similarities between Brazil and Goa, India are many and just football as some may suppose but also growing of the popular cashew fruit. Reira Eco Ventures in association with Department of Agriculture and the Sao Paulo Agency for Agro Business Technology linked to the Department of Agriculture and supply in Sao Paulo, Brazil recently organised an interactive session and discussion on 'Agribusiness Technology' at Krishi Bhavan, Panjim.
This session was mainly focusing on the cashew plantations of Goa and drawing parallels with Brazil.
The Consul General of Brazil in Mumbai, Fausto M Godoy had invited experts from various fields to India in order to interact with their counterparts. As part of the initiative, delegates from the Sao Paulo Agency of Agro Business Technology were invited to Goa for an interactive seminar.
The experts, namely Orlando Melo de Castro, co-ordinator vice president Agency Paulista Agribusiness Technology and Marcos Guimaraes de Andrade Landell, deputy vice president interacted with the participants and exchanged information on the nature of expertise employed in the cashew development and processing industry.
Speaking to GT, Director of Agriculture, Satish Tendulkar remarked that the focus of this session was to share the knowledge between the two countries. This interactive session was on the various aspect of cultivation. The cashew plantations are mainly in the North-East of the country and they rely on irrigation and whereas we rely on rainwater. Also there, the Government doesn’t interfere in its development aspect unlike us, he added.
Tendulkar also claimed that in Goa, the cashew crop provides more monetary benefits whereas in Brazil, it is not the same. Pointing that Goa and Brazil could benefit greatly from interacting with each other by sharing research studies and methods of processing, Castro explained that in Brazil, no part of cashew fruit is wasted. The seeds are packaged and sold as is cashew juice, which is considered to be more nutritious than Orange juice.
The residue of the cashew fruit is not thrown away but is used as manure due to its rich nutritional content.
Other topics that were discussed were the mechanization in the cultivation of sugarcane and rice, production of cashew juice and processing, management practice for cashew cultivation and processing system for cashew kernel.
The objective of the delegation's visit to India was to share and discuss the research being done in the areas of rubber, cashew plantations, germoplasm of the sugarcane and the different qualities of rice production in India. They were also keen to learn about the cultivation of tropical fruits such as Mangoes and Pineapples and the process involved in processing the produce.
The Indian spice farm and the possibilities of implementing a similar system in Brazil is also being studied.
ICAR, The Goa Cashew Feni Distillers & Bottlers Association, Goa State Agricultural Marketing Board (GSAMB), Cashew Processing Association, Zonal Agricultural Officers, Progressive Farmers and Community Farming Groups, among others attended the seminar.
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