Cashew - Production

Nigeria was the world's largest producer of cashew nuts with shell in 2010. Cashew nut production trends have varied over the decades. African countries used to be the major producers before 1980s, India became the largest producer in 1990s, followed by Viet Nam which became the largest producer in mid 2000s. Since 2008, Nigeria has become the largest producer. Cashew nuts are produced in tropical countries because the tree is very frost sensitive; they have been adapted to various climatic regions around the world between the 25 north and south latitudes.

Peru reported the world's highest production yields for cashew nuts in 2010, at 5.27 metric tons per hectare, nearly nine times the world average yield per hectare. The traditional cashew tree is tall (up to 14 meters) and takes 3 years from planting before it starts production, and 8 years before economic harvests can begin. More recent breeds such as the dwarf cashew tree is up to 6 meters tall, starts producing after the 1st year, with economic yields after 3 years. The cashew nut yields for the traditional tree are about 0.25 metric tons per hectare, in contrast to over 1 ton per hectare for the dwarf variety. Grafting and other modern tree management technologies are used to further improve and sustain cashew nut yields in commercial orchards.