Côte d’Ivoire: improved cashew nut varieties to boost yields in the sector

(Agence Ecofin) - Cashew nut varieties which can yield up to one ton per hectare. These are the new products on which the agricultural research is poring over in Côte d’Ivoire.

According to Dr Mariam Ouattara, technical director for cashew at the Cotton and Cashew Council (CCA), these varieties will enable the country to move from a traditional agriculture of the cashew to an industrial agriculture. The scientist also indicated that the progress is the result of the collaboration between her service in the National Centre for Agronomic Research (CNRA), the Polytechnic Institute of Yamoussokro (INPHB) and other universities. “The reform of the cashew sector has brought about major areas of work, including one for research”, she reminded the APA before saying that it was in this framework that the scientific institutions in question worked together to improve the defence mechanisms against rodents attacking the cashew tree.

This announcement comes as a wind of excellence is currently blowing through the cashew sector in Côte d’Ivoire. Indeed, the players in the sector are working at the moment to put into place an inter-professional organisation while the government has clearly stated its desire to become the world top producer of cashew. Already number one on the continent, Côte d’Ivoire has the ambition to topple India, current top world producer.