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Detailed Explanation of Cashew Planting Methods and Technical Points

Growing Techniques By Emily Carter 0 views
Nuts

Cashew, Anacardium occidentalie Linn, is a plant in the class Dicotyledoneae, order Sapindales, family Anacardiaceae, genus Anacardium. Also known as the cashew tree, chicken cashew, and longevity fruit. It is an evergreen tree with an upright trunk, reaching up to 10 m tall. The cashew is a kidney-shaped nut in the order Sapindales, family Anacardiaceae, genus Anacardium. It is native to the Americas.

Planting Conditions

1. Temperature

The cashew is a tropical seasonal fruit tree, native to the Brazil region, and is a warmth-loving, sun-loving tree species. It is suitable for growing in environments with an average temperature of 24-28 degrees, with air temperatures between 25-30 degrees, where it grows extremely quickly and flowers and fruits normally. It is not cold-tolerant, but as the tree ages its cold tolerance gradually increases. When the temperature is below 10 degrees, one- to two-year-old fruit trees will dry up and die, while trees over three years old can tolerate slight cold, but whether old or young, trees are relatively sensitive to temperature, especially in low-temperature environments.

2. Light

The cashew is a light-loving tree species. In environments with sufficient sunlight it grows well, with more flowers and fruits. With too little light, and being in a relatively shaded environment for a long time, it grows poorly, with fewer flowers and fruits. In its native Brazil, the annual sunshine duration can reach 1500-2000 hours, so in China only Hainan or the southwestern region can meet its sunshine duration requirements, where the annual sunshine duration can reach 1500-2500 hours.

3. Soil

The cashew has strong environmental adaptability and is not strict about soil. It can grow normally in arid and barren red soil, sandy soil, or stony mountain land, but its growth and the number of flowers and fruits are not as good as in fertile soil. It prefers to grow in soil with good aeration, that is fertile and loose, and well-drained. It dislikes poorly drained low-lying land or soil with relatively high salinity and alkalinity. Generally, it grows and fruits best in areas below 400 m elevation.

4. Water

The peak growing season of the cashew tree is in the early rainy season, so its water demand is relatively high. With sufficient water it grows quickly, and areas with annual rainfall of 1000-1600 mm are most suitable. It dislikes areas with year-round rainy seasons or relatively high groundwater levels, as this causes the root system to be submerged for a long time, leading to root rot and, in the worst case, plant death.

Management

Shaping and Pruning
Shaping and pruning can regulate the canopy structure and improve the ventilation and light transmission of the tree body, thereby increasing the fruit-setting rate and yield. The principle for pruning young cashew trees is to prune lightly rather than heavily, and early rather than late, using a method of pruning in multiple stages, batches, and times. The pyramid-shaped pruning and shaping effect is good.
Fertilization
Although the cashew tree is tolerant of barren soil and resistant to drought, cultivation practice has proven that cashew trees growing in natural conditions produce almost no yield. After fertilization, the yield of mature fruit trees increases several times over. In terms of fertilizer types, mixed application of N, P, and K has the best yield-increasing effect; next is P alone, and then mixed application of N and P. Relatively high levels of N can extend the flowering period, while relatively high levels of P and K shorten the flowering period. Applying 600 g of N, 200 g of P, and 200 g of K per tree per year can significantly increase the number of nuts per tree and improve the total yield and kernel outturn rate.

Pest and Disease Control

At different stages of its growth, the cashew is harmed by more than 60 kinds of pests and diseases. Among them, the main cashew diseases include inflorescence blight, damping-off, gummosis, branch rot and leaf fall disease, leaf rot, yellow leaf spot, and little leaf disease; the main insect pests include the cashew mosquito bug, cashew leaf miner, cashew stem borer, and scarab beetles.
The cashew stem borer is a pest of the cashew tree trunk. The best time to control it is during the egg-laying period in July-August. Generally, 0.15% carbaryl or 0.05% monocrotophos can be used to treat the exposed roots of the cashew tree.
Scarab larvae mainly harm the roots of the cashew tree. The chemical control method is to apply lime sulfur at an effective ingredient rate of 1 kg per hectare, which has the best effect. 15 days after application, the pest population is reduced by 74.4%.




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