Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree Anacardium occidentale, in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as 14 metres, but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew nut is edible and is eaten on its own as a snack, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. The nut is often simply called a 'cashew'. Cashew can cause allergies triggered by the proteins found in the nuts.
Kollam, also known by its former name Quilon, is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is 71 km (44 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake and the Kallada river. Kollam is the fourth largest city in Kerala and is known for cashew processing and coir manufacturing. It is the southern gateway to the Backwaters of Kerala and is a prominent tourist destination. Kollam is one of the most historic cities with continuous settlements in India. Geographically, Quilon formation seen around coastal cliffs of Ashtamudi Lake, represent sediments laid down in the Kerala basin that existed during Mio-Pliocene times.
Puthur is a small town located 26 kilometers (16 mi) from Kollam City in Kollam District, Kerala, India.
J. Rajmohan Pillai is an Indian businessman, and is currently the chairman of Beta Group.
Thangal Kunju Musaliar was an industrialist, educationalist and visionary, known for his contributions to the cashew industry, and higher education in the state of Kerala, India.
Chandanathope is a town located in Kollam district, Kerala. It lies 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Paravur town and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Kollam city centre on the Kollam–Thirumangalam National Highway 744. In Malayalam, the name denotes a place with sandalwood plantations. It is also known for cashew processing and its exports two major cashew exporters of Kollam namely VLC Cashews and MARK has their facilities in the town.
Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd is an integrated titanium dioxide manufacturing public sector undertaking in Kollam, Kerala, India. Its operations comprise mining, mineral separation, synthetic rutile and pigment-production plants. Apart from producing rutile-grade titanium dioxide pigment for various types of industries, it also produces other products like ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, synthetic rutile etc. It is one of the best performing Public Sector Units in India. The company manufactures titanium dioxide through the chloride route. The different grades are produced by KMML under the brand name KEMOX.
Kollam Port is one of the historic ports situated 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away from Downtown Kollam It is the second largest port in Kerala by volume of cargo handled and facilities. Located on the south-west coast of India, under the name of Quilon Port it became one of the country's most important trade hubs from the ninth to the seventeenth centuries. Kollam was one of the five Indian ports visited by Ibn Battuta.
Mundakkal, also spelt Mundackal, is an important residential area and industrial hub situated in the city of Kollam, Kerala, India. The place is considered as the capital of India's cashew processing activities. Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited(KSCDC) and Cashew Export Promotion Council of India(CEPCI) are headquartered at Mundakkal in Kollam city. It is an important tourist place in the city and a part of Downtown Kollam which gained in significance because of the presence of a flourishing beach. During 'Karkidaka Vavubali', thousands of devotees arrive on the beach to perform the Vavubali Tharpanam. Vavubali is an important ritual observed by Hindus in Kerala in the month of Karkidakam. The ritual involves people offering Bali to the departed souls. The ritual is performed by men, women, and children.
Kilikolloor, also known as Kilikollur, is a neighbourhood in Kollam district in Kerala, India. It is a center of the cashew industry in the area, and is also a hub of automobile production.
The Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited or KSCDC is a model employer in the field of cashew industry mainly to protect the interest of workers and to provide maximum employment to its workers and to give statutory benefits like minimum wages, bonus, etc. prevailing in the cashew industry. It is headquartered in Kollam city, called "Cashew Capital of the World". The head office is situated at Cashew House, Mundakkal in Kollam City, Kerala. KSCDC was incorporated in July 1969 and started Commercial activities in the year 1971 as a company fully owned by the Government of Kerala. Corporation has now more than a turn over of Rs. 2.50 billion. A Central Export Promotion Council for Cashew, Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) is situated at Kollam city.
Chamakada or Chamakkada is a trade hub of the city of Kollam, India, in the core Downtown Kollam area. The area has wholesale dealers and rice merchants. Chamakada is the second main commercial centre of Kollam city after Chinnakada.
The Cashew business in Kollam is based in the eponymous city, which is known as the Cashew Capital of the World. Kollam is the largest processed cashew exporter in the world. As of 2011 there were more than 600 cashew processing units in the city. About 800,000 tonnes of raw cashews are imported to the city for processing every year. 80% of India's export quality cashew kernels were prepared in Kollam. Kollam has remained the cashew capital of the world since the 1930s.
Kollam or Quilon is an old seaport and a city on the Laccadive Sea coast in Kerala, India, on Ashtamudi Lake. The city remains notable as the ancient commercial capital of Kerala and the southwestern Indian coast, in addition to its fame as the "Cashew Capital of the World". The Kollam Municipal Corporation has the second largest budget in Kerala in terms of revenue and expenditure.
Transport in Kollam includes various modes of road, rail and water transportation in the city and its suburbs. State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses, private buses, Indian Railways, state-owned Kerala State Water Transport Department boats & ferry, taxis and auto rickshaws are serving the city of Kollam. The city had a strong commercial reputation since the days of the Phoenicians and Romans. Ibn Battuta mentioned Kollam Port as one of the five Indian ports he had seen during the course of his twenty-four year travels.
Ayathil is a neighbourhood in Vadakkevila zone of Kollam city, Kerala, India. It is the 36th ward in Kollam Municipal Corporation. It is one of the cashew processing hubs in Kollam city. Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited has a factory there. Kollam Bypass passes through Ayathil.
Kollam Canal or Quilon Canal or Kollam Thodu is a 7.7 km long canal system passing through the city of Kollam, India. It is a part of National Waterway-3 and 78 km long Kollam-Trivandrum (Kovalam) State waterway project.
Tanzania is one of the largest cashew producers in Africa, with exports providing 10-15 percent of the country's foreign exchange. The country is the eighth-largest grower of cashew nut in the world and ranks fourth in Africa. The country provides 20% of Africa's cashew nut and only trails in production of Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, and Guinea-Bissau, according to figures released in 2012 by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). The country has been engaged in the production of the cash crop since before independence in the years 1960s however, poor regulation and lack of reliable payments to farmers have posed significant challenges to the Cashew Nut farming industry in Tanzania. Guinea-Bissau, a country a tenth of the area of Tanzania's, has a significantly greater yield.
