After distributing over 20,000 high-yield saplings to farmers, AGHMPCS now trains rural youth to process cashews locally, aiming to boost incomes and create jobs.
Tura, July 17: For years, cashew growers in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills have sold raw nuts to traders, leaving much of the profits from processing and marketing outside the state. A cooperative is now trying to change that by building an end-to-end cashew value chain—from high-yield plantations to local processing and packaging.
The All-Garo Hills Multipurpose Cooperative Society (AGHMPCS) has distributed 20,049 high-yield cashew saplings to 309 farmers across Gambegre, Dalu, Ampati and Chokpot under a climate-resilient agriculture programme supported by NABARD and the Meghalaya government. The saplings, sourced from the ICAR-Directorate of Cashew Research (ICAR-DCR), will be planted across 1,278.2 bighas, replacing ageing orchards that have suffered declining yields due to pest infestations.
West Garo Hills is Meghalaya’s principal cashew-growing region, with cultivation also spread across South West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills. The region’s warm climate and well-drained soils make it well suited for the crop.
Cashew is increasingly being promoted as a climate-resilient horticultural crop because it can withstand relatively dry conditions and thrive on undulating land that is less suitable for paddy cultivation. Beyond edible kernels, the crop offers opportunities for value addition through roasted and flavoured nuts, cashew apple products and other by-products, creating employment well beyond the farm.
Despite this potential, local processing has remained limited, forcing farmers to sell raw nuts and leaving much of the value addition to processors outside Meghalaya.
To reverse that trend, AGHMPCS is expanding its processing capacity. A new cashew processing unit at Damal Asin is expected to become operational in October, while workers from the upcoming unit and the existing Asingre processing centre are undergoing intensive hands-on training under NABARD’s Micro Enterprises Development Programme (MEDP). The training covers every stage of processing—from procurement and quality inspection of raw nuts to shelling, drying, grading and hygienic packaging.
The cooperative said the processing units will procure raw cashew nuts directly from farmers, reducing their dependence on middlemen while ensuring better and more stable prices through local value addition.
Scientists from the ICAR-Directorate of Cashew Research surveyed plantations before the project was launched and will continue to provide technical guidance on scientific cultivation, pest management and quality enhancement to improve productivity.
AGHMPCS plans to extend the plantation programme to another 300 farmers in the next phase as it seeks to strengthen climate-resilient agriculture and expand the region’s cashew economy.
If the model succeeds, it could signal a broader shift in Meghalaya’s horticulture strategy—from producing raw agricultural commodities to building rural industries around them. For cashew growers in Garo Hills, that could mean higher farm incomes, new jobs in processing and packaging, and a larger share of the crop’s value remaining within the state rather than flowing elsewhere.
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