Choosing the site
15. If a cocoa tree is to grow well, it needs more than anything else a soil
· of good structure,
· permeable and deep.
The cocoa tree has tap- roots. The tap- root descends straight into the soil. The branch roots go down very deep. But many small branch roots also grow near the surface.
If the soil is of good structure and contains much humus, the roots penetrate well. You can improve the soil structure by spreading manure and working it into the soil. If the soil is deep, the roots can go down to a good depth.
Never plant cocoa trees in soil with a lot of stones, or in soil where there is some hard layer.
Small surface roots
Clearing the site
16. In Africa, cocoa is grown in forest regions.
To make a plantation, you must clear the site.
But the cocoa tree needs shade, especially when it Is young.
17. The traditional method is to cut down all the trees and to burn everything.
But this is a bad method because:
· You destroy all the organic matter in the weeds, the leaves and the branches.
· You leave the soil bare to the sun or rain.
· The soil becomes less fertile.
· The cocoa trees are not protected from the sun when it is too strong.
18. Sometimes growers put banana trees or taros into the cocoa plantation, to give shade for the young cocoa trees. If these are planted long enough before the cocoa trees, they give good protection.
But if they are planted at the same time as the cocoa trees, they do not protect the young cocoa trees well enough and they take nourishment out of the soil.
19. To give shade it Is better to keep a few of the forest trees.
You should cut first all the tall weeds, the creepers and the small trees.
Make heaps of what you have cut down and arrange the heaps in rows.
It is better not to burn all the vegetation you cut. Leave It on the ground.
It protects the soil against erosion and sun. It rots and makes humus.
If you have to burn the vegetation you have cut, you must sow a cover crop.
20. Next, go through the plantation a second time:
Now cut down all the trees which might give some disease to the cocoa trees.
And cut down also all trees that give too much shade. But leave those large trees which can give no disease to the cocoa trees, and which give a lime shade
When the cocoa trees have grown taller, they need less shade.
You should gradually give them less and less shade. You should prune the big trees and cut off those branches that cast too much shade.
When the plantation is well cared for, you can cut down all the big trees.
When the cocoa trees have grown, it is better to get rid of the unwanted shade trees by using tree- killing chemical products. This way causes less damage than cutting them down.
21. In Cameroon, for example,
· Farmers always remove the following trees:
Atui (Piptadeniastrum africanum)
Tom (Erythrophloeum guineense)
Eba (Pentaclethra macrophylla)
Eyen (Distemonanthus benthamianus)
Asam (Uapaca staudtii)
Abem (Macrolobium or Berlinia)
Esabem (Macrolobium limba)
Engkm (Myrianthus arboreus)
Aseng (Musanga cecropioides)
· Leave In the plantation:
Akom (Terminalia superba)
Atol (Ficus vogeliana)
Evouvous (Aibizzia ferruginea)
Esak (Albizzia fastigiata)
Ekouk (Alstonia boonei)
Eteng (Pycnanthus kombo)
22. In Ivory Coast
· Farmers always remove the following trees:
Dabema (Piptadeniastrum africanum)
Samba (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
Bla (Childovia sanguinea)
Aiya, Kotib (Nesogordonia papaverifera)
Cola (Cola nitida)
Ehman (Corynanthe pachyceras)
Cakoua
Ntaba
Akeato (Cola spp.)
Aoussou
Boto, Kotoki(Sterculia tragacantha)
Fromager (Ceiba pentandra)
Akogaouan, Oba (Bombax spp.)
Grand Wounianb (Myrianthus preussi)
Blblendou (Treculia africana)
Inkichbi (Rauwolfia vomitoria)
Glagla (Conopharyngia)
· Leave In the plantation:
Adashia (Trema guineensis)
Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa)
Figuiers (Ficus)
Ouangrain (Allophylus africanus)
Sipo, Tiama (Entandro phragma)
Pri, Pousso ou (Funtumia)
Abalo (Combretodendron africanum)
Emien (Alstonia boonei)
Minghi, Ba (Fagara)
Oualb Nda (Pycnanthus angolensis)
Frak, Framir (Terminalia)
Akoua (Antrocaryon micraster)
Parasolier (Musanga cecropioides)
Loloti (Lannea welwitschii)
Tchiku, Tchikubi (Bridelia)Preparing to plant cocoa trees
23. With traditional methods, planting is most often done in a haphazard way.
The cocoa trees are not planted in rows.
There is not the same distance between them.
When the trees are too far apart, they do not use all the soil; when they are too close, they grow badly.
Instead, you should always plant in rows.
First mark the rows for the cocoa trees, leaving about 2.5 to 3 metres between rows.
Along each row, mark out with pegs the spots where the cocoa trees are to go.
Leave about 2.5 to 3 metres between trees.
In this way you can plant about 1000 to 1600 seedlings per hectare.
24. Digging the holes
Before planting cocoa trees, the grower must dig holes in order to stir the earth and loosen it.
Dig the holes two months before planting the cocoa trees.
When you are digging the hole, do not mix together the soil from above and the soil from below:
Make two separate heaps.
Planting cocoa trees in a plantation
Sometimes growers sow cocoa seeds straight away in the plantation. This is a bad thing to do.
It is better to put into the plantation either young cocoa seedlings from your own nursery beds, or cocoa seedlings bought from a research centre.
25. A few hours before lifting the seedlings from the nursery beds, water the soil. Then take the seedlings out of the nursery beds with a spade or a hoe. Be very careful not to break the roots.
Next sort out the cocoa seedlings. Throw away diseased plants and plants that have a twisted tap- root.
You can dip the roots of the seedlings in liquid mud, so that the cocoa plants take root again easily.
26. When to plant cocoa trees Plant cocoa trees at the beginning of the rainy sea son.
Choose a day when the soil is moist and when the sky is cloudy. Plant the young cocoa trees when they are about 6 months old.
27. How to plant cocoa trees A few days before planting, fill in the holes you have dug. At the bottom of the hole, put the soil you have dug out from the top, and on top put the soil you have dug out from below. You may mix the soil with manure.
How to plant cocoa trees
When you are ready to plant, make a small hole. In this small hole place your young cocoa seedling. If you have sown your seeds in baskets or bags, make a hole big enough to hold the root ball with the cocoa seedling. Be very careful not to twist the tap- root.
Do not cover the crown with earth.
Pack the soil down well around the tap- root.
For the first few days, protect the cocoa seedling from the sun.
If there are palm trees in your village, use a palm frond.
Taking care of the plantation
28. When the cocoa trees have been planted, the work is not finished.
The grower still has a lot of work to do to look after his cocoa trees.
A grower who does not look after his plantation properly cannot harvest big pods and will not earn much money.
To look after your plantation properly you must:
· Replace seedlings that have not grown
· Remove weeds and keep the soil covered
· Prune the cocoa trees
· Apply fertilizer
· Protect the cocoa trees from insects and diseases.
REPLACING MISSING SEEDLINGS
29. Sometimes certain cocoa seedlings do not grow well. They remain small or die.
During the months following the day when you planted your seedlings, you must always look to see whether the cocoa trees are growing well.
If you see diseased or dead cocoa trees, pull them out and burn them, and also those encircling them in case of swollen shoot disease (see paragraph 42). In their place, plant other young cocoa seedlings, from among those that you have kept in the nursery bed or in baskets.
Weeding and soil cover
30. Many weeds grow among the cocoa tree rows.
You must not let weeds take nourishment away from the cocoa trees.
When the cocoa trees are young, you should weed 4 or 5 times every year.
When the cocoa trees are bigger, they cast a lot of shade and so few weeds will grow. It will be enough to weed once a year. When you are cultivating be very careful not to damage the trunk and roots of the cocoa trees.
31. Between the rows of cocoa trees, you should not leave the soil bare.
You should cover the soil either with cut weeds or with palm fronds, if available.
In this way the soil is protected against sun and erosion; it stays moist and cool.
When the weeds rot, they give the soil organic matter.
You can also sow a cover crop, for instance legumes. This will give the soil good protection against sun and erosion.
You can also sow a cover crop
Pruning cocoa trees
32. The cocoa tree is a tree that develops well. It has a single, straight trunk. A crown of 3 to 5 main branches forms about 1.5 metres above ground level.
33. Sometimes, during the first year, several shoots form on the trunk. Cut off these shoots and leave only the strongest. Sometimes the crown forms too low down, at less than 1 metre above ground level.
A new crown will then form at a good height, and the first crown will stop growing.
Choose a shoot which grows straight up and let it develop
34. Always cut out all dead branches, dry twigs and suckers.
A sucker is a twig that grows upward out of the trunk. Cut off the suckers very close to the trunk.
Always cut out all dead branches
35. When a cocoa tree gets old, it no longer yields many pods. But you can make cocoa trees young again by letting one or two suckers grow low down on the trunk where they can develop their own roots. Then cut down the old trunk, and you will again have a cocoa tree that yields many pods.
Old cocoa tree
Applying fertilizers
Fertilizers cost a lot of money.
So the grower should use fertilizers only when this will make him earn more money.
36. When you have tended your cocoa trees, when you have hoed the weeds, then you should apply fertilizer.
Spread fertilizer around each cocoa tree, but be careful not to put any on the trunk, the branches or the leaves of the cocoa tree: otherwise the fertilizer will burn the free.
Spread the fertilizer in aring around the trunk at a distance of about 1 metre from it, where most of its small roots are.
Apply fertilizer twice a year: in April and September.
37. It is useless to apply fertilizers In a plantation that Is not well cared for.
A grower who does not prune his cocoa trees and who does not hoe the weeds should not apply any fertilizer.
If the plantation is not cared for properly, fertilizers do nothing except feed the trunks of the cocoa trees, the suckers and the weeds.
The grower loses his money.
38. Different soils have different fertilizer needs.
Ask the extension service how much fertilizer to use.
For example, in Ivory Coast:
· on the more sandy soils, along the coast, use compound fertilizer, which contains nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash: fertilizer formula 13- 10- 15;
· on the more granitic soils of the interior, use another compound fertilizer: formula 12- 15- 18.
The quantities for each tree are as follows:
· during the first two years: in April: 125 grammes; in September: 125 grammes.
· during the third year and from then on: in April: 250 grammes; in September: 250 grammes.
Protection from insects and diseases
The most dangerous insects are the following:
39. Capsids
These insects prick the twigs and pods. At the place where they make a hole, the tree dries out and the sap no longer circulates. Young trees attacked by capsids often die. To control capsids, use Lindane or Aldrin.
40. Borers
The larvae of these insects bore holes in the trunk or branches. You can control borers with DDT or Dieldrin.
Borers
The most dangerous diseases that attack cocoa trees are the following:
41. Black pod disease
This is caused by a fungus which chiefly attacks the pods.
If attacked, the pods rot and die.
Control this disease by picking off diseased pods and burning them.
You can prevent the disease from spreading by spraying the sound pods with copper preparations.
42. Swollen shoot disease
This is a very serious disease, which has caused much damage in Ghana.
You will see that the leaves are mottled. Sometimes some twigs become very thick and the tree soon dies. Mealy bugs carried about by ants can transmit the disease from one tree to another.
Control this disease by cutting down diseased trees and leaving them to wither.
Remember that, when a diseased tree has been discovered and cut down, all the trees circling it must be cut down also to avoid the spread of infection.
Harvesting the pods
43. The tree makes its first flowers after two years. But in order not to tire the tree, you should cut off the first flowers.
From these you will therefore get no fruit.
There are two harvests each year: a small harvest at the beginning of the rainy season, a big harvest at the end of the rainy season.
44. Do not pick all the pods at the same time.
Pick only pods that are ripe, whether yellow or red. Leave on the tree any pods that are not ripe, that are still a little green.
Go through the plantation every fortnight to pick the ripe pods.
Never pick the pods by pulling them off: if you do, you will spoil your tree.
You should cut the stem of the pod with a machete.
You should cut the stem of the pod
Processing cocoa beans
45. Opening the pods.
Do not wait more than 4 days to open the pods. Open the pods by hitting them with a thick piece of wood. Take the beans out of the pods and put them in baskets. Then carry them to the place where they are to ferment. Do not leave the broken husks on the field. They can be used to make compost.
46. Why cocoa beans are fermented.
We have seen that the cocoa bean consists of a seed coat, a kernel and a germ. Cocoa beans are fermented so as to destroy the seed coat, kill the germ and give the cocoa a good taste.
47. How to ferment the beans.
Often cocoa growers ferment the beans in heaps. They chose a flat and dry spot, cover it with banana leaves, make a heap of cocoa beans and cover the heap with banana leaves. The beans ferment well if the heap is stirred from time to time. It Is much better to ferment the beans In boxes.
Use boxes with holes in the bottom. Place these boxes on supports, for instance stones.
The juice runs off at the bottom of the boxes through the holes. After two days, take the beans out of the box, stir them around well and put them into another box. To make this work easier, you can stack the boxes one on top of the other.
Never leave the beans In the same box for more than two days. Fermentation takes 6 to 10 days. The beans are purple at the beginning, and turn reddish when they are fermented.
Drying cocoa beans
48. When the beans are well fermented, they must be dried. Cocoa beans may be dried in the sun. Spread the beans on boards raised 1 metre above ground level. The layer of beans should not be very thick; not more than 4 centimetres. Stir the beans often and protect them from rain.
To protect from rain, you can make a little shelter and slide the boards under the shelter every night and when it rains:
This is called a sliding tray drier.
Drying cocoa beans takes live to ten days.
49. In forest regions where the climate is very moist, cocoa beans do not dry at all well.
Badly dried beans are of poor quality. You get less money for them.
In such regions several growers can get together and build a modern drier.
Spread the beans on a concrete slab set well above floor level.
Light a fire underneath, or allow hot air to pass through drums to heat the concrete slab.
Then the cocoa beans will dry better.
In this way one man alone can take care of drying the harvest of several growers.
He should not let the fire get too hot, to prevent the beans from becoming smoky.
He should stir them often so that they do not burn.
50. When the cocoa is quite dry, the beans are sorted.
Remove all the:
· flat beans
· germinated beans
· mouldy beans
· broken beans.
Keep only good beans.
Put these good beans into sacks.
Keep the sacks in a dry place well protected against animals.
Finally sell your sacks of cocoa. Good- quality cocoa is cocoa which has been:
· well harvested,
· well fermented,
· well dried.