Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has warned farmers against plumping for poor or inferior quality planting materials as cocoa bean price has spiralled triggering a big appetite for launching fresh planting ventures. Using poor quality materials can lead to heavy losses both in terms of money and time, said B. Suma, director of KAU Cocoa Research Centre.
Kerala has, in the past, witnessed farmers in large numbers being attracted to easy-profit crops. Though cocoa plantations started in the State in the 1970s, farmers abandoned cocoa due to low prices by the 1980s. It was a while before vanilla appeared on the scene with a promise of massive returns as farmers in scores went in for the flavour-maker only to be abandoned with equal elan in less than a decade.
Dr. Suma said it took more than 20 years to develop a quality planting material for a crop like cocoa. Farmers must realise that planting materials must be sourced invariably from scientifically laid out orchards as cocoa plants are highly self-pollinated and self-incompatible. These properly laid out orchards are available only with KAU as of now, and farmers are likely to be lured by other sources.
The KAU research centre produces around 35 lakh planting materials a year. About 90% of the planting materials used in cocoa plantations in the State are accounted for by the KAU centre. The farmer feedback has been positive through these years. Cocoa farmers in other States too have relied on supplies from KAU.
The recent cocoa price rise has given a new colour to cocoa cultivation. Sensing a quick kill, farmers in Kerala are being drawn to cocoa planting. But they can be drawn by easily available but poor quality planting materials.
Cocoa prices has appreciated sharply since early this year because of a serious shortage of production in large producer countries like Ivory Coast and Ghana. According to market sources, cocoa dry beans fetched ₹900 a kg on Thursday. The price rise has been from around ₹200 a kg earlier. The lure of high prices has attracted new farmers though veterans in the field feel that the current price levels may not sustain over the long term. At the same time, even at lower levels of around ₹300 to ₹400, cocoa is considered the most remunerative among intercrops.
