MARGAO: In a hard-hitting critique of the cashew market in Goa, the president of United Tribals Associations Alliance (UTAA), Prakash Velip has slammed the sale of cashew nuts sourced from African countries in the name of Goa’s cashew nuts. Velip added that UTTA has asked the government to increase the procurement/support price for cashew farmers from the present Rs 125 per kg.
UTTA Chief, who is also a former MLA, said this issue concerns the image of the State and that it’s an injustice to the local famers from Goa who produce authentic and in-demand cashew nuts.
Velip, who has been part of the Goa Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing Board, said he had raised this issue in the past with the government as there is a need for action to be taken against such acts.
Velip said that there is merit in the common grievance of cashew farmers in the State against the open market police, which he says allows such cashew nuts from African countries to be sold.
