Poor yield set to up rates of processed cashew, feni

PONDA: Prices of processed cashew nuts and cashew feni, a local drink brewed by fermenting the juice of raw cashew apples, are likely to soar due to a 50% decline in the nuts’ production across the state. A rise in temperature during winter, the flowering season for cashew plants, affected the yield. “Cashew production needs at least three months of cold winter, but the winters this time were not conducive for flowering,” said zonal agricultural officer, Ponda, Nagesh Komarpant.Cashew processing and feni production units are in a sticky spot, faced with a shortage of raw material that is pushing up prices.“It’s going to be very difficult to continue business for even six months this year due to the poor yield,” said a Bhatpal-based brewer, Dinesh Desai.According to him, there is a demand for about 50,000 cans (16,87,500 litres) of cashew feni across the state each year. But, the amount of raw cashew apples produced this year would be hardly enough to brew 20,000–25,000 cans (about eight to nine lakh litres) of the drink. Around 240 litres of raw cashew juice is needed to brew a can of feni.Asked whether it is possible to source feni from outside Goa to meet the demand in the state, Desai said, “It’s tough. Feni brewed outside Goa in no way matches the one produced in the state. The odour is not the same and anyone can tell the difference.”