Cocoa

Cultivation
Cocoa ( Theobroma cacao L. ) is a native of Amazon region of South America. The bulk of it is produced in the tropical areas of the African continent. There are over 20 species in the genus but the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao is the only one cultivated widely.

Cocoa being a tropical crop, India offers considerable scope for the development. Cocoa is mainly grown in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Importance:
Though cocoa has been known as the beverage crop even before tea or coffee, it is relatively a new crop in India. Cocoa being primarily an item of confectionery industries is the produce of Cacao plant mostly grown as a companion crop interspersed within the irrigated Coconut and /or Arecanut gardens. Even though Cocoa comes under the definition of plantation crops pure plantation of cocoa as such is absent in India. The commercial cultivation of cocoa however commenced from 1960’s only. Various Cocoa products are confectionery in nature and consumable with palatable ness. Internationally it is an item largely consumed in developed countries. India has gained a foreign exchange of nearly Rs. 9.00 crores in 1995-96 and Rs. 6.00 crores in 1996-97 by way of export of cocoa beans and its products from India. At present the global production and consumption of cocoa is around 27.00 lakh MT, compared to this, India’s production is meager i.e. 10,000 MT.

Climate:
Rainfall

Average rainfall of 1250-3000 mm. per annum and preferably between 1500-2000mm. with a dry season of not more than 3 months with less than 100mm. rain per month is ideal, but the quantity is less important than distribution. Rainfall can be supplemented with irrigation during dry months.

Temperature

Temperature varying between 30-320C mean maximum and 18-210C mean minimum but around 250C is considered to be a favourable. It can’t be grown commercially in areas where the minimum temperature fall below 100C and annual average temperature is less than 210C.

Humidity

This is uniformly high in cocoa-growing areas, often 100% at night, falling to 70-80 % by day, sometimes low during the dry season. The most marked effect was on leaf area, plants growing at low humidity ( 50-60%) having larger leaves and greater leaf area than plants growing at medium (70-80%) and high (90-95%) humidity under the latter conditions leaves are small and tend to be curled and withered at the tip. The other effects of humidity concern the spread of fungal diseases and the difficulties of drying and storage.

Soil
Cocoa is grown on a wide range of soil types and the standards for soil suitable for cocoa vary considerably. Cocoa trees are more sensitive to moisture stress than other tropical crops. In addition cocoa trees are sensitive to water logging. While they can withstand flooding, they will not tolerate stagnant, water logged conditions. The depth of the soil should be at least 1.5m. The best soil for cocoa is forest soil rich in humus. The soil should be such as allowing easy penetration of roots capable of retaining moisture during summer and allowing circulation of air and moisture. Clay loams and sandy loams are suitable. Shallow soils should be avoided. A minimum requirement of 3.5% organic matter say 2% Carbon in the top 15cm. is ideal for growing cocoa plantation. Cocoa is grown on soils with a wide range of PH from 6-7.5 where major nutrients and trace elements will be available. Cocoa doest not come up in coastal sandy soils where coconut flourish.
Propagation:

Vegetative propagation: Large scale production of superior planting material is possible in cocoa through vegetative means like budding and grafting of which budding is the easiest. The different budding methods feasible are ‘T’ , inverted ‘T’, patch and modified Forkert. The new method of micro budding also may be followed.

Selection of root stocks and bud wood: Seedlings of about 60-90 days are generally used as root stock. While selecting root stock, care should be taken to see that both root stock and scion are of same thickness and physiological age. Bud wood from chupons can be taken for budding. The patch to be taken should be above 2.5 cm. long and 0.5cm. wide with a single vigorous bud on it. Bark of the same size is removed from the root stock and the bud patch is inserted. It is then tied with grafting tape. The patch selected should have bud that is visible to the naked eye but it should not have signs of proliferation. Even though bud wood freshly collected can be used for budding, pre-curing of bud wood is found to increase the percentage of success. Such a pre-curing consists of removing the lamina portions of all the leaves from the region of bud stick chosen. The petiole stump will fall off in about 10 days and the buds would have been initiated to grow. Buds may now be extracted from the pre-cured portion. If the root stocks are less than four months old, the bud wood selected should also be green or greenish brown.