Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), the largest Asian repository of cocoa germplasm, is ready to release six more clones to farmers. The university’s Cocoa Research Centre at Vellanikkara has so far released 15 clones, which are being widely used by farmers across the State. The clones are of the forastero type, best suited to tropical conditions.
Cocoa is largely grown as intercrop in the State and the average yield from the clones is 1.5 kg to 2 kg of cocoa beans per tree per year against the global average of 0.5 kg, according to B. Suma, director of the Cocoa Research Centre. She said the clones had genetic potential of up to 5-7 kg.
The research centre has a collection of 700 cocoa genotypes from 23 countries, accumulated over a period of over four decades for research and breeding purposes. Commercial cultivation of cocoa took off in India in the early 1970s and is now spread over Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The research centre was commissioned in 1979, bolstered by a Cadbury-KAU Cooperative Cocoa Research Project launched in 1987.
