Cashew a native of Eastern Brazil introduced to India just as other commercial crops like rubber, coffee, tea etc. by the Portuguese nearly five centuries back. The first introduction of cashew in India was made in Goa from where it spread to other parts of the country. In the beginning it was mainly considered as a crop for afforestation and soil binding to check erosions.

Due to the absence of high yielding varieties and multiplication techniques, indiscript seeds and seedlings were used for planting purposes. Because of its adaptive ability in wide range of agro climatic conditions it has become a crop of high economy and attained the status of an export oriented commodity bringing considerable foreign exchange to the country.

India has a creditable record of attaining good amount of foreign exchange by way of export of cashew kernels. Among the agri-horticultural commodities getting exported from India, cashew ranks the 2nd position. USA, Netherlands, UK, Japan, UAE, France, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Italy, German Fed. Republic, Austria, Israel and Spain are the major international buyers of Indian cashew.