Gov't pumping more into cocoa for greater yield
Published:Friday | September 16, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
More than 2,000 acres of cocoa fields are being rehabilitated by the Government, a move that will yield an additional 400 tonnes for the 2011-2012 crop year, boosting production by at least 50 per cent as it seeks to regain its foothold in the international market.
"The foundation of any industry has to be the expansion of primary production to guarantee the kind of throughput required for efficient and profitable value-added activity," said J.C. Hutchinson, state minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
"No value-added industry could be profitable and sustainable at a production level of 213 metric tonnes."
Hutchinson was giving the keynote address at the second annual Caribbean Fine Cocoa Conference and Chocolate Expo at The Ritz-Carlton Resort in Montego Bay, St James.
"In this regard, the Government has secured grant assistance from the European Union and USAID to increase production through the rehabilitation of existing fields," the junior minister disclosed.
"Through these initiatives, we have set a target of rehabilitating over 2,000 acres of cocoa, which will increase production by 400 tonnes by the end of the 2011-2012 crop."
According to the agriculture ministry, about 11,000 farmers are involved in cocoa production. In 2009, the value of primary output from the sector was J$200 million (about US$2.3 million), with US$1.8 million worth going to the export market.
cocoa conference
The two-day cocoa conference is observing the theme 'Investing in Fine Cocoa and its Value Chain', and will bring together Caribbean growers, producers associations, government agencies, cocoa processors, traders, exporters, manufacturers and retailers from six of the nine member countries to explore value-added opportunities and commercial prospects.
Jamaica's rehabilitation project is being underwritten by a grant of €500,000 under the European Union Banana Support Programme, with matching funds of €161,000 from the Cocoa Industry Board (CIB) directly benefiting some 600 farmers in St Mary, Portland and St Thomas.
Currently, local cocoa production averages 10 boxes per acre, but is expected to see an increase to 15 boxes per acre over a 24-month period from the rehabilitated fields. This would total 3,000 boxes of wet cocoa that would convert to 300 metric tons or 300,000 kilos of exportable dried beans.
Guaranteed market
Jamaican cocoa, which ranks among the world's best in quality, has a guaranteed market for at least 1,500 tonnes annually, but in the last five years have only managed production of just 768 tonnes in 2007 as the highest.
Half of Jamaica's cocoa production is shipped to France where it is made into premium chocolate, with the rest distributed through a broker that sells the beans to Italian, Swiss and Belgian companies.
"With the demand for fine cocoa products at an all-time high, the time is right to revitalise the region's cocoa industry to realise its true potential," commented Trinidadian Vernon Barrett, project manager of the Caribbean Fine Cocoa Forum.
"Caribbean cocoa production has fallen drastically in the past two decades, almost dying in some islands, because of infestation, disease and, in many cases, neglect, but cocoa can be profitable in a market where prices are skyrocketing. We produce a premium cocoa that attracts two or three times the market price of bulk cocoa, and we need to tap into this."
Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of industry, investment and commerce, and his Trinidadian counterpart, Stephen Cadiz, were also expected to address day one of the confab.
Data from the CIB shows that for the 2009-2011 fiscal year, exports of dry cocoa beans totalled 548 tonnes. The out-turn for 2010-2011 is expected to be much lower as, up to last month, only 100 tonnes had been exported. The low performance is attributed to the drought, which affected the country for most of last year.