Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) production

Land preparation

Cacao is a tree crop which is highly suitable or well-matched under different production systems (monocrop, intercropping and agroforestry.) It is grown mainly for each beans, processed into cacao powder, cake and cacao butter and largely used in making chocolates, soaps, cosmetics, shampoo and other pharmaceutical products. Cocoa flourishes well in areas where the land is comparatively flat but will also perform well in areas where the land is undulating. It can therefore survive in areas of slopes between 0 – 8º and on altitudes from 1300m. Cocoa is an understorey crop which means it grows well under shade. As a result, cocoa trees need enough shade cover for two purposes:

• To provide adequate initial (0-3 years) and permanent (after 4 years) shade and organic matter.
• To improve soil fertility.

Farmers should leave permanent shade/timber trees of economic or household value and other vegetation that grows well in association with cocoa when clearing a field to grow cocoa, it is therefore advisable for farmers to plant forest trees like Terminalia sp., Milicia excelsa, Khayaivorensis, etc., and traditional agroforestry tree species that can fix nitrogen (e.g., Gliricidia spp., Albizia spp., Acacia spp., etc.) to improve soil nutrient content in areas where there are no permanent shade/timber forest trees.

Also, when establishing a new cocoa farm, crops such as plantain, cassava, coco yam, maize, etc., can be cultivated to provide initial shade for newly planted cocoa seedlings and also serve

as source of income. In selecting which crops to plant, it is important to choose varieties that provide maximum shade.

When an effective initial shade is provided for newly planted cocoa seedlings it protects the seedlings from intense sun light and Mirid attack.

cagayandeoro.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CACAO-PRODUCTION.pdf

 

Variety

Criollo: it is comparatively susceptible to pest and diseases and possesses a superior quality

Forastero: a round pod and thick-walled which turn yellow when ripe. It has a flat, violet seed: one group of forastero is Amellonado. It is a high yielding variety which is more genetically uniform.

Trinitario: a cross between Criollo and Amellonado.

Brazillian hybrids: include Upper Amazon X Amenolado and Upper Amazon X Trinitario

 

Some Recommended Hybrids

• UF 18
• BR 25
• PBC 23
• F1 Hybrid

The seed source can be a seed garden where improved planting materials are produced.

 

Soil and Climatic Requirements

Rainfall of about 1,250 – 3000 mm per year is required. It grows best in areas where the dry season last for not more than three months. Also, a temperature between a high of 30-32^oC and a low of 18-21^o C is needed.

 

Climatic Needs for Growing Cacao Under Coconut

Factors includes:

• Altitude (above sea level) Less than 600 m Up to 800 m
• Temperature of 24 ^oC -29 ^oC and 18 ^oC -32 ^oC
• Light 2000 sunshine hours’ year Shade tolerant crop.
• Total annual rainfall (mm) 1500-2500 (well distributed) 1250-2800 (w/o any drought exceeding 3 months)

 

Soil Requirement for cacao Under Coconut

In a small farm or a plantation, different recommended high yielding varieties may be

grown at the same period. Soil Conditions includes:

• Soil Depth (cm) >75 >1500
• Drainage Moderate to well drained Well-drained
• Soil Texture Sandy, loam, Clayey (with good structure)
• Loamy, Clayey (with good structure)
• Organic matter content Medium to high Medium to high
• Soil Acidity (pH) 5.5 – 7.5 5.5 – 7.5
• Major Nutrient N, K, Cl,S, P, Ca, Mg, B+ trace elements
• N, P, K, Ca, S + trace elements
• (Mo, Mn, B, Cu, Zn, Fe)

 

Under Mono-cropping System

A 3 m x 3 m triangular spacing (1,241 plants/ha) is desirable to be grown.

 

Planting System

• 1 ha, needs approx (100-135 coconut + 600 cacao trees).
• TRIANGULAR (HEXAGONAL) (2.75m x 2.38m) ( 1ha. Needs 1,527 cacao + 1000 cassava hills).

http://www.agriculture.gov.tt/publications/manuals/cocoa-production-a-producer-s-manual.html

 

Soil Fertility

Coacoa is extremely demanding in its soil requirements. Not all soils are suitable for cocoa cultivation. Cocoa trees grow well only in good quality soil. It is therefore important to select an appropriate site before establishing a cocoa farm. To select a site, look for the presence of

earthworms in the soil since this gives an indication for humus soils. After the inspection for earthworm and humus, conduct a careful analysis of the soil in order to characterize the soil.

When forests are cleared, the nutrients are rapidly released, giving the soil a high fertility for a

few years. Hence, farmers should remember to apply recommended mineral fertilizer or compost to the planting hole to improve soil fertility when planting cocoa in a field that has been used to grow other crops.

 

Nursery

A successful nursery requires a reliable source of water close to nursery site and planting material (i.e. seed source). Seedlings should be raised in the nursery for at least 3 to 6 months. Farmers can establish 2 types of nurseries:

 

Nursery types include:

• Temporary or own use nursery: this is appropriate for raising small quantities of seedlings, suitable for a household.
• Permanent or commercial nursery: this is more appropriate for raising large quantities of seedlings, for commercial use. Therefore, the intended purpose of the seedlings will determine the type of nursery to establish.

 

Consideration when raising a nursery for cocoa and other tree seeds:

• Size of land to be cultivated should be determined (for temporary nursery)
• Demand for seedlings and which species are required (for permanent nursery) should be determined.
• Sources of water and planting materials.
• Good drainage system
• Accessibility to fertile soil or you should apply fertilizer or compost
• Accessibility to the nursery operator and proximity to the farm

 

Management

• The nursery needs to be fenced to prevent strangers or animals from entering
• It also needs to be shaded and maintained very well.
• The nursery needs to be weeded to avoid competition

 

Nursery equipment

The following equipment can be used in establishing and operating a nursery:

• Pickaxe
• Measuring tape
• Nylon ropes
• Spade or shovel
• Sieve (1,5 cm)
• Ladle for filling in media
• Watering can
• Water hose (rubber pipe)
• Wheelbarrow
• Scissors cut
• Poly bags
• Potting medium
• Seeds

 

Nursery conditions:

Most plants germinate well in loamy soils, i.e., soil particles that are not too sandy and not too clayey. A loose and fine structured soil: this will ensure good contact between the seed and soil; allow continuous supply of water to be supplied while providing adequate air for respiration by the roots. In large scale nurseries, soils from previous year’s seed beds may be contaminated by pathogens and so should be sterilized before use. This may be done by heating or fumigating and requires that the soil be removed and put back after it has been sterilized. Note that an area of about 9 m x 9 m may accommodate approximately 2,500 seedlings, depending on the size of the poly bags. Also, 2,500 seedlings may use an average of 450 litres of water (0.18 litre/seedling) a day if there is no rain. The thickness of the shade or shed must be adjusted according to type of plant, e.g., if dense shade is used for light demanding

plants, seedlings may be thin and weak. On the other hand, too little shade may provide inadequate protection against direct sunlight, large temperature changes, drying out, and heavy rains

 

Sowing seeds on nursery beds

• Water nursery beds before sowing
• Use a string to make lines 60 cm apart along the entire length of each bed
• On each line make holes twice the size of the seed (fresh beans for cocoa) at 5 cm apart
• Sow seeds in the holes
• For cocoa, place beans into the holes with the pointed end up
• Cover the holes and water the nursery beds again
• From then on water the beds twice daily

 

Using poly bags in the nursery

The soil or materials used in filling poly bags in the nursery is called a planting medium. The medium can be artificial potting materials or soil based potting materials. The importance of the medium is to help the seedlings to grow. This involves a typical mix of about 20% by volume of each of the following ingredients:

• Soil
• Shredded coconut fibre.
• Composted rice husk.
• Burnt rice husk.
• Sand, and
• Dried manure.

 

If one cannot find rice husk, other materials like cocoa pod husks, coffee pulp, banana peel, and sugar cane bagasse can be used instead.

 

Shade provision

Seed beds and poly bags must be shaded during germination and early seedling stages. For seed beds, shade should be about 30-60 cm high and about 2 m for poly bags to allow for people to easily work under it. Shade or shelters protect seeds and young plants from:

• Direct sunlight;
• Wide temperature changes;
• Drying out;
• Heavy rains.

 

Fertilizer application

There is no need for fertilizer application where fertile forest soil is used for seed beds or as potting soil in poly bags. But if the planting soil is relatively poor in nutrients, apply fertilizer. The need to apply fertilizer and the specific type depends on:

• Nutrient composition of the soil.
• Age and size of seedlings.
• Length of time they will spend in the nursery.

The following must be observed when applying fertilizer:

• Liquid fertilizer should be applied with a watering can for young seedlings.
• For seedlings in poly bags, apply a few granules to each bag.
• Confirm that granules do not remain on the leaves since this can cause damage.
• After applying granule fertilizer seedlings should be watered thoroughly to dissolve the granules and ensure root contact.

 

Transplanting

Two weeks before seedlings are planted in the field, watering of seedlings should be reduced to once a day. The addition of fertilizer should also be stopped under nursery conditions to harden the seedlings to enable them withstand field conditions. Shade or shelters can be removed to expose seedlings to full sun light.

 

Planting

A healthy cocoa pod contains at least 30 good seeds for sowing. Clean improved cocoa seeds (Hybrid materials) can ONLY be obtained from a certified seed source, usually a government cocoa seed garden, research institutions and projects. Cocoa can be grown by either sowing the seeds or by budding and grafting using other vegetative parts (rootstock, bud woods, etc.) apart from the seeds.  In the case of rootstocks, farmers can use any tree so long as the tree is healthy looking and the pods are also healthy with good healthy looking seeds (good size and shape) inside. Rootstocks can be obtained from a few trees (rootstock trees), which produce good size seeds from fast growing and healthy seedlings emerge. When using bud woods as planting material, it should be obtained from recently hardened flushes.

 

Using Seeds as Planting Materials for Cocoa

Farmers are expected to use hybrid seeds for new planting which implies that only seeds from approved mother trees are required since seeds from pods harvested from hybrid trees grown on a farmer’s field cannot produce hybrid trees. Trees from these seeds will have lower yields compared to true hybrids obtained from a certified cocoa seed source. Farmers need to know where certified cocoa seed sources are located and obtain seeds from these sources. Note that seeds from hybrid pods are usually available from September to January.

 

When picking up seeds, the following should be considered:

• Pick up pods that are healthy and ripe
• Seeds should be used 4 days after opening the pod as it cannot be stored for a long time.
• Cocoa seeds are easily destroyed by heat and in dry weather

 

Seed preparation

• Open the pod with a wooden mallet or a blunt machete (avoid using a sharp edged tool as this may damage the seed)
• Remove the seed from the pod by separating it from the pulp.
• Discard small seeds, damaged seeds and flat seeds

 

Pre-treatment of seeds before sowing

This process helps to clean the seeds of foreign materials and also protect it from diseases and pests before and during sowing. To do these,

• Rub the seeds in saw dusts to remove the remaining pulp covering the seeds. This is done to break dormancy.
• Wash the resulting seeds in clean water and drain.
• Seeds may then be soaked in fungicide solution (e.g., Benlate or Dithane) for about 1 minute.
• Drain the seeds and place them on a dry tray in a shaded and cool area protected from rain and wind.

 

Seed preparation for short period

 

Cocoa seeds can stay in storage for a short period say 2-5 days before sowing

in the poly bags.

• Spread some rough sawdust on the floor
• Break each pod and scoop the seeds on the spread sawdust
• Examine the seeds and remove all bad seeds from the lot
• Wash the seeds by rubbing them in the rough saw dust to remove the mucilage and seed moisture.
• Place the seed- sawdust mixture in a basket with holes big enough to separate the seeds from the sawdust
• Wash the seeds again by rubbing them in fresh rough sawdust and sieve them using the same basket as before to obtain a second stage washed seeds
• After the second round of washing clean the seeds in a sieve tray using a clean cloth or handkerchief
• Also hand pick minute dust or foreign particles to clean seeds
• Smooth sawdust is mixed with water in a mixing tray to moist them. The cleaned seeds are now added to the moist sawdust and mixed evenly
• The cleaned seed- moist sawdust mixture is now packed in appropriate weight for transport, delivery or storage.

Note that in doing the washing, avoid saw dust with wood chippings and other hard materials since these may damage the seeds. Also, seeds should be in small quantities, e.g., 5-10 pods. This may take about 20 minutes when properly done.

Materials needed to wash 5 – 10 pods includes: a wheel barrow or mixing trays, rough sawdust (½ of size 34 bucket – 17 liters), smooth sawdust (½ of size 34 bucket), sieving tray and a plastic basket

 

Lining and pegging

Lining and pegging at the recommended spacing will give more income on cocoa yield per unit area. To do ‘Lining and pegging’ on a field, place a peg at a reference point and with a rope tied to the peg make a horizontal base line to the edge of the land, about 100 m. From this peg, and on the horizontal base line, mark the recommended spacing for each crop to be planted and put a peg at every mark. Repeat the process vertically till the whole farm is pegged.

 

Spacing

Every country has adopted a recommended spacing regime for planting food crops, fruit and timber trees. These recommendations are related to the climate, type of planting material, shade conditions and soil type. In Ghana for instance, recommended spacing for planting hybrid cocoa seeds and plantain is 3 x 3 m resulting in 1111 cocoa trees and 1111 plantain per hectare. Spacing affects the shade conditions on cocoa farms. Spacing also plays a role on certain diseases (Black Pod) and pests (Mirid) in cocoa. For instance, when seedlings are widely spaced and there are gaps in the canopy, there is a higher chance of Mirid attack on trees. Black pod is more likely to develop when cocoa trees are closely spaced resulting in high humidity under the dense canopy.

 

Shade management

Cocoa needs a well-established shade level at all stages of its production cycle

(young, mature and old) to protect it against Pests, diseases and drying out.

 

Basin preparation

Immediately after transplanting, a basin is prepared around the palm to prevent run-off and to ensure a sufficient supply of water to the plant. When using a micro irrigation system, it is recommended to have a basin of approximately 3 m in diameter and 20 to 30 cm deep. The basin should have a slight downward slope towards the plant to allow the water to reach the root system of the young plant.

 

Mulching

The benefits of organic material were highlighted when land preparation, as part of the plantation development, was discussed. The mulching is done by putting a layer of organic material (e.g. wheat straw) around the base of the palm. Mulching of the basin has the following advantages.

• Limits water loss from the soil through evaporation;
• Prevents crust formation;
• Allows better water penetration into the soil:
• Limits weed growth around the plant; and
• Improves the humus content of the soil.

Irrigation

Immediately after transplanting, the palm should be irrigated to limit transplant stress. Once the plantation is established, a frequent irrigation schedule is to be followed to allow suffi cient water supply to the young date palm.

The irrigation frequency, is soil type dependant, but on very sandy soils it requires daily irrigation during the first summer. Heavy soils will require irrigation once a week, while in most soils, irrigation is required every second or third day. During the first six weeks, the date growers should inspect their planted date palms to verify that the surface soil does not dry and shrink away from the plant.

Protection

Tissue culture-derived plants and young offshoots should be protected from harsh climatic conditions (sun and wind during the first summer and cold the following winter) and against some animals (rabbits, etc.). The use of a hessian wrapping, a shade net cover, or a tent of date leaves is recommended. The top is to be left open so that new growth may push out.

Aftercare

Beside irrigation applications, the annual fertilisation schedule, weeding and mulching, the date grower should, for at least the first 10 to 12 months, keep an eye on the plantation in order to detect and consequently correct any adverse situations.

Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y4360e/y4360e0a.htm

Planting of shade Crops

In the initial years of cacao establishment, shade crops (‘nurse crops’) like coconut cacao mono-cropping system, shade trees are later pruned.

 

Cacao Intercropping System

• Cacao + cassava + corn under coconut.
• Cacao+ banana + fruit trees under coconut.

 

Pruning

Proper and timely pruning is required:

• To train, shape and achieve the economical tree height; have adequate air circulation and sunlight penetration within the crop.
• To minimize incidences of pest and disease
• To produce higher and quality yields.

 

Fertilization

A separate fertilization for the stands of coconut and the cacao crop is recommended.

• Using the combination of single fertilizers (ammonium sulphate plus common salt (for potassium-rich soils) or potassium chloride (0-0-60) for soils deficient in K.
• Using ready-to-apply multi nutrient fertilizers (14-5-20-0.02 (B) now commercially available like COCOGRO (ATLAS Brand) in 25. Capacity bags.
• These two fertilizer recommendations are compatible with the application of appropriate organic fertilizers (compost, coco peat, commercial organic fertilizers). Organic fertilizer should be applied about a month ahead of the application of the inorganic/mineral fertilizers.
• Organic fertilizers serve best as soil conditions and fertilizer supplements to the coconut cacao cropping system.

 

Pests and Disease Management

• Plant recommended high yielding and pest resistant varieties.
• Early bagging of young fruits (battery-size).
• Field sanitation and regular pruning done to clean the area and eliminate the dwelling place of the moth and other insects and disease.
• Apply or spray with combination of insecticides and fungicides

 

Other Control Measures

• Frequent harvesting of ripening pods and splitting as soon as the pods are harvested.
• Shredding of pods husks – mechanically destroys/kills off the pod borer larvae and grinded and grinded husks can be used as mulching and organic fertilizer.
• Keeping of alternate host plants out of the farm – elimination of other plants that will serve as hiding or breeding places for pod borer.

 

Harvesting and Postharvest Operations

• Usually takes 5 to 6 months from pollination.
• Maturity period depends on the variety and climatic conditions such as rainfall distribution and temperature.
• When ripened, pods are yellow or orange in colour.
• Harvesting is recommended when the pods are fully ripe to have good flavour and good quality beans.
• Fermentation is done to produce

 

Fermentation and Drying

Beans of good quality, meaning the colour and aroma of the beans are improved.

• Beans are placed in wooden boxes or rattan baskets for 6 days. The desired temperature ranges from 100-120^oF) (38-48^oC).
• This practice is required for high quality and export grade cacao beans.
• Sorting, Grading and Bagging.
• Sorting and grading will enhance bean quality.
• Foreign materials, clumped, infested and broken beans are removed.
• Small and partially fermented beans are set aside.
• Grading follows basing on standards set by buyers.
• Classified beans are then bagged and weighed.

Source: cagayandeoro.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CACAO-PRODUCTION.pdf