PANAJI: For the second successive year, the cashew liquor industry in the state has taken a hit due to various factors.
While cashew farmers and feni distillers were unable to reap profits last year owing to the lockdown that was enforced from March-end, 2021 hasn’t been any better, as adverse weather conditions affected precious productive months of the season.
Distillers and ‘bhatikars’, who are traditionally involved in feni making, as well as stakeholders in the industry were forced to give up production a month before the season ended in May.
“This season, the cashew produce was 40% less than the usual production due to unfavourable weather conditions.
Many wound up their operations in April itself.
Also, it was difficult to function after the state witnessed a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases,” said Gurudatta Bhakta, president, Goa Cashew Feni and Distillers’ and Bottlers’ Association.
“Though the cashew season started on a bright note in February-March, feni manufacturers had a hard time procuring cashew apples due to less yield.
“Initially, flowering held a promising season, but bad weather conditions in the following months disturbed the fruiting pattern, thus leading to loss of crop,” said Bhakta.
Some places also received heavy unseasonal rainfall.
“Overall, the yield was low, and the fruit gathering activity was comparatively less.
This led to an overall rise in production costs,” Sanad Bharne, team leader at Madame Rosa Distillery said.
For some traders, production was affected due to lack of people who gather cashew apples and transport these to processing sites.
“We shut down our operations mid-April as some of our workers tested positive.
I also contracted the virus, so it was not possible to monitor the production.
Hence, we wound up earlier than usual,” said Tukaram Haldankar, director of Haldankar Cashew industries.
He pointed out that there were numerous hurdles that discouraged traders this season, with the main problem being unfavourable climatic conditions that had a direct bearing on the yield.
Cashew season usually takes off by mid-February and continues till the end of May.
But this time, the month of May was a washout due to Cyclone Tauktae.
“Cashew crop was destroyed in the cyclone, compelling traders to discontinue their operations,” he said.