Cashew

Planted once, harvested year after year.

Check it on your land
Season
Whole year
100% of its area.
Water
1,180–1,320 mm
of water over its season (rain plus irrigation)
Grows best at
15–35 °C
0 °C survives 5–46 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Planted once, usually at the start of the rains. It stays for years: the first real harvest comes after about 3 years, then one every year.

Will it grow on your land?

Alappuzha Kerala
Water
Season

Possible in Alappuzha, with effort

Cashew

Holds the land all year

Grown on 3,363 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.

₹6,000–₹9,000

per acre a year, before costs

once bearing, from about year 3

Likely a loss at typical costs: ₹15,000–₹18,000 an acre a year

  • Suits: Rain is enough
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Rain is enough, even in a dry year.

Needs about 1,150 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 2,000 mm it can use in a normal year, and 1,670 mm in a dry year.

Heavy rain here can waterlog it. Grow it on raised beds or land that drains well.

Temperature

Grows best at 15–35 °C on average, and survives 5–46 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

  • Jun 31 °C / 25 °C
  • Jul 30 °C / 24 °C
  • Aug 30 °C / 24 °C
  • Sep 31 °C / 25 °C
  • Oct 31 °C / 25 °C
  • Nov 31 °C / 24 °C
  • Dec 32 °C / 24 °C
  • Jan 32 °C / 23 °C
  • Feb 32 °C / 24 °C
  • Mar 33 °C / 25 °C
  • Apr 33 °C / 26 °C
  • May 33 °C / 26 °C
  • Jun 31 °C / 25 °C

Soil

Soil for Cashew: 8 out of 10 (good).

Not in the score: nitrogen.

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
  • Most fields here are short of sulphur.
  • Most fields here are short of boron.

Likes pH 4.5–6.5.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 0.6 quintals an acre here in this season (district figures).

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (March–May 2026): about ₹12,500 a quintal across mandis in your state.

This week: about ₹11,475 a quintal, the middle of 6 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would lose about ₹17,000 a year at typical costs.

Average mandi price each year (₹ a quintal):
  1. ₹9,000 2021
  2. ₹8,100 2022
  3. ₹7,880 2023
  4. ₹9,100 2024
  5. ₹12,100 2025

Prices are usually best in April.

Typical costs are about ₹25,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.

How to make it work

The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 1.2 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.

  • Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.

    Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.

    Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.

  • Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.

    Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.

    Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.

  • Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.

    Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.

    Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.

See every crop that suits Alappuzha

What it needs

Temperature

15–35 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 5–46 °C.

Water

1,180–1,320 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

North Goa Ariyalur Cuddalore South Goa Kannur

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 3.8 to 8.7.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Ordinary farm soil is fine
  • K Needs plenty of potassium
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a year, once it bears

₹18,600

Yield India's average
2.6 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Mar–May 2026)
₹14,855 a quintal
= Income
₹39,100
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2024–2026), as in farm cost surveys
−₹20,500
= Left
₹18,600

This week cashew sells at about ₹11,475 a quintal: India's middle price at 6 mandis, latest 13 Nov. At that price an acre would leave about ₹9,700 a year.

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹31,300 to ₹46,900 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

It bears from about year 3: nothing to sell before.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
February, ₹15,300 a quintal
Lowest
December, ₹12,100 a quintal
₹15,300
₹12,100
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–May 2026, Jul–Nov 2026).

Latest prices near Alappuzha Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
29.9 lakh acres
2025-26
Average yield
2.6 quintals an acre (0.7 tonnes a hectare)
2025-26
Most area
Odisha
18% of India's

States that grow it

Each state's share of India's production, in its latest year with figures (2025-26). Tap a state to open it.

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

District figures cover only 19% of India's cashew area, so the districts aren't listed. The states show where it grows.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Cashew yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil low in nitrogen moderate 41 districts
  • More soil low in organic carbon weak 53 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).