The nutrition of cashew(Anacardium occidentaleL.), commercially grown on a large scale on infertile sandy Spodosols at Besut, Malaysia, was evaluated based on the major element of the leaves composition from two fertilizer trials and from an independent field nutritional survey (1979–1981). Except for the sampling periods which represented four physiological stages of the crop, commercial fertilizers applied even up to 1.4 kg/ tree/year did not show significant changes in the five major elements in cashew tree leaves. However, the organic matter levels within the top 32 cm of the surface soil did show consistent positive correlations with each of the five major elements in leaves sampled from a nutritional survey. The significance of these foliar data is discussed in relation to the overall nutrition of cashew grown extensively on sandy infertile soils of Malaysia.