By Lakna Paranamanna
“The tastiest cashew in the world is the product from Sri Lanka” – Spring Tree Corporation, U.S.A.

Import of cashew nuts sans quality control is in danger of hampering the industry on several levels. The Bottom Line spoke to the various stakeholders to understand a problem that has the potential to undermine one of the most popular of Sri Lankan exports.

The SLCC Policy and Planning Manager stated that this year they are expecting about 14,000 metric tonnes of cashew off local plantations. Production dropped by about 60% last year.

Facts

• Nearly 75,000 employers live off the cashew industry
  
• Almost 50,000 workers are engaged as cashew processors
  
• The local products are mainly exported to the Middle East, Canada and Isreal
  

The cashew industry of Sri Lanka dates back to the 16th century when the Portuguese introduced the plant to the locals. However, after The Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation (SLCC) was established in 1973, the industry earned a commercial aspect.

Last year, the Ministry of Finance and Planning had granted a temporary tax debit for the cashew sellers and processors in the light of uplifting and safeguarding the jobs of local cashew nut processors on November 25, 2008. However, this tax debit was granted provided, that the rules and regulations imposed by the Plant Protection Act and the quarantine rules were adhered.

The scandal
“On November 2, 1981 a regulation was made under the Gazette 165/2 banning the importation of any cashew plant or planting material including fruit and seed,” said Jagath Gunawardena, an environmental lawyer and activist. He said that this measure was taken to prevent contaminated seed and various other pests and diseases spreading to local cashew nut plantations. “But there is an exception to this law. A government body can import, with the permission of the Agricultural Department and under the conditions forced by them.”

If the seeds or the plants exported were diseased, especially the native plants which belong to the cashew family (Semecarpus spp.) could be mostly threatened due to the pests or diseases which these seeds or plants could carry.

During the month of November last year, several containers of cashew had been imported from India several times. They had been imported by the Desheeya Cadju Pririsakasum ha Alevi Karannange Sangamaya (The Society of Local Cashew Processors and Sellers) under two private companies from a company in India named Mujeeb Cashew Industries Ltd.

The containers which arrived contained cashew as follows:

• 164 tonnes – November 25, 2008
  
• 166. 46 tonnes – November 15, 2008
  
• 82 tonnes – November 9, 2008
  

However upon questioning, the Policy and Planning Manager of SLCC, P. B. Kodikara said that for the past seven or eight years, even the private companies have imported cashew as they obtained approval from the Government. “However, last year, we even had to import cashew for local consumption since the production of the crops was less than expected,” pointed out Kodikara. The expected production of the crops had been 12,000 metric tonnes but there had been a drop of about 60%.

However, Gunawardena stated that the temporary permission which the SLCC speaks of, cannot be accepted since according to law, when a regulation is imposed through a gazette extraordinary, the law cannot be overridden by the cabinet or any other institution unless the law itself is amended.

How would this affect the local markets or the producers?
The pathological reports have been obtained from the samples from the containers. The test results of the samples, obtained from the container which arrived on November 15, 2008 stated that the sample was contaminated and contained a fungus named Aspergillus spp which could cause serious disease in humans and animals, and is known to be pathogenic.

What is Aspergillus?

The Aspergillus species cause serious disease in humans and animals, and can be pathogenic. The most common causing invasive diseases are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus. Aspergillus flavours produces a flatoxin which is both a toxin and a carcinogen, and which can potentially contaminate foods such as nuts. The most common causing allergic diseases are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus clavatus. Other species are important as agricultural pathogens. Aspergillus spp. cause disease in many grain crops, especially maize, and synthesize mycotoxins including aflatoxin.

However, Kodikara stated that during the importation process, a sample is obtained from each of the containers and they are examined by the Agricultural Department before allowing the containers into the country. “We specifically make sure that the seeds have undergone a compulsory fumigating process before they are exported from India. But even once they arrive to Sri Lanka, they are thoroughly checked before they are accepted into the country. So, there can is absolutely no way that these imported cashews could contain contaminated material.”

Nevertheless, Gunawardena pointed out that the Agricultural Department holds responsibility only for the diseases in the plant, so therefore it cannot detect whether these seeds contain any fungus or bacteria which are harmful for human consumption. Most of these cashew nuts that are imported from India are originally from the Ivory Coast where the cashew plantations are supposed to suffer from a variety of diseases.

Also during the examination of the samples, it was discovered that most of them contained damaged seeds. Since the exportations require quality control tests, these cashews cannot be used for export purposes.

The golden question is ‘What happened to deform the seeds’? It is evident that these producers would have released these contaminated and deformed seeds to the local markets in forms of chipped or confectionary products, to recoup the lost value. Eventually, will the permit which was granted in the light of uplifting the cashew industry be the ultimate downfall of it?