Technology and Investment Profile of Cashew Products

Palawan is the top cashew-producing province in the Philippines. It is also regarded as the country's cashew capital (Palawan is country's cashew capital 2011). Ninety percent of the country's total cashew production are from Palawan with municipalities such as Roxas, El Nido, and Dumaran as the top three cashew producing municipalities. With Palawan's abundance of this fruit, cashew is the One Town, One Product (OTOP) of the province.

Despite being the country's leading producer of cashew, the problem of low income is still realized by many of the cashew farmers in the past (Palawan is country's cashew capital 2011). This was partly attributed to the underutilization of the cashew fruit since only the nuts were utilized. The cashew apple's flesh is seldom eaten fresh due to its high astringency, therefore the cashew apple, which constitutes 90% of the fruit was thrown away after the removal of nuts. This occurs due to the farmer's lack of knowledge of its processing potential.

Realizing the need to increase the cashew farmers' income, the Western Philippines University pioneered product development of the cashew apple. With funding from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) under its National Technology Commercialization Program (NTCP), the Department of Agriculture-Palawan Research and Experiment Station (DA-PRES) also exerted further research efforts on product development through processing of cashew nuts and apples to generate more income for the cashew farmers. Considering that 90% of the whole fruit is cashew apple, the research project of DA-PRES entitled Cashew Products Processing, Packaging, and Labeling accorded more focus on cashew apple processing. In this project, DA-PRES also introduced the latest packaging material to local producers, processors, and manufacturers since the agency recognized the importance of having a presentable packing material bearing the nutrition facts to penetrate supermarkets and the international market.

As part of its technology commercialization strategies, the DA-PRES conducted promotional campaign and trainings of farmers on cashew production and product development to increase the farmers' interest in value-adding activities. From salted fried split nuts and roasted whole nuts, cashew processing technologies developed by the DA-PRES has gone a long way. At present, many products from cashew apple (e.g., cashew wine, prunes, jam, jelly, polvoron, and soap) have been developed by the DA-PRES. Cashew apple is, nowadays, gradually gaining economic value of more than four times the value of nuts.