Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) a native of Amazon base of South America got its entry into India in the early half of the 20th century. Administratively it is conferred plantation status like coffee, tea and rubber but is seldom recognized as a plantation crop under the Indian Agrarian Administrative Sector. Cocoa beans is the primary raw material for confectioneries, beverages, chocolates and other edible products. The commercial sector of cocoa in India hardly takes place in a major way in the international export trade. Majority of the processed cocoa products are consumed within India. The tropical diversified congenial climate available in India provides immense scope for its cultivation.

Cocoa is hardly grown as a mono crop. Its imminent capacity to share the alley spaces of tall growing Coconut and Arecanut palms and its combining ability with the microclimatic conditions available in such perennial gardens helps its cultivation in utilizing such areas without exacting for an independent growing climate of its own. In any groves of tall growing palms where 40-50% sunlight penetration is possible, cocoa stands first to absorb such solar energy, remaining symbiotic to the main crop and generating additional income as well, besides helping the amelioration of the soil conditions making beneficial not only for its own growth but also for the benefit of the main crop under which it takes its shelter.

Kerala was the leading State in promoting cocoa cultivation. Massive area coverage was possible through distribution of cocoa seedlings. There was an attractive price for cocoa pods and beans prevalent till 1980's. This favourable situation, coupled with large scale distribution of planting materials could bring about an enviable area coverage recording 29,000 ha under cocoa by 1980-81. Being a crop subjected to the monopolistic exploitation of the available industrial unit, however paved ways for fall in price in 1981-82 and 1982-83. Inadequate marketing network and the fall in price developed a sense of insecurity among the planting communities, which detrimentally affected its expansion besides attributing to a neglectful approach by the plantation community. The entry of CAMPCO towards the marketing scenario from 1990's, though formed a favourable atmosphere, the services rendered towards procurement of cocoa was far below the requirement.

From 1997-98 onwards the non-traditional tracts of Karnataka and other States like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu started developing cocoa. During the implementation of 11th and 12th Five Year Plan programmes there has been a large scale distribution of hybrids and High Yielding Varieties of Cocoa which has helped in increased the area and production of this crop.

Cultivation Technologies - Cocoa

Production Technologies - Cocoa

• Cocoa being a tropical crop, India offers considerable scope for the development. Cocoa is mainly grown in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• 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.

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

METHOD OF SOWING

VARIETIES

HARVESTING

REJUVENATION OF SENILE GARDENS

Top working is a method to convert old poor yielding cocoa plants to high yielders. This technique helps in the rejuvenation of old and unproductive cocoa plantations. A poor yielding cocoa tree of any age can be converted to a high yielder by the simple procedure of top working. The method is similar to the budding on seedlings.

The tree to be top worked is snapped back just below the jorquette (1-1.5 m above the ground) after cutting half way through the width. Patch budding is done on three or four newly formed most vigorous chupon shoots and the rest of the chupons are removed.

Budding should be done only when the shoots attain pencil thickness and their leaves are hardened. The bud wood is taken only from fan shoots of high yielding trees. Patch budding can be easily done on these shoots by removing a patch of bark of 2.5 m length and 0.5 cm width and adding a patch of bud of similar size.

his scion is fixed in position and protected by tying with a polythene tape. Three weeks after budding the tape is cut off and the stock portion of the seedling above the bud union is snapped back.

The snapped portion is removed only after at least two hardened leaves develop from the bud. When sufficient shoots are hardened the canopy of the mother tree can be totally removed. Top working can be done during all seasons. Still, it may be more convenient if this operation is done in a rain-free period in irrigated gardens. For rain fed situations, this may preferably be done after the receipt of pre- monsoon showers.

Top worked trees grow much faster than budded plants of the same age especially because of the presence of an established root system. They start yielding heavily from the second year onwards while a budded cocoa plant of the same age may take five years for the same.

Varital Health

Processing

Drum roasting

This is one of the oldest and more widely used methods. The nuts are fed into a rotating red hot drum which will ignite the shell maintaining its temperature because of the burning of the shell liquid. The drum is kept in rotation for 3-4 minutes and the roasted nuts are discharged from the lower end of the drum and immediately covered by ash after sprayed with little water, so as to absorb the oil on the surface. This facilitates the removal of the remaining oil on the shell. Due to draw backs of the method is superseded by oil bath roasting.

Oil bath roasting

In this method conditioned nuts are passed through CNSL bath heated to 170-2000C by conveyer buckets for 1-2 minutes during which period the shell gets heated rupturing the wall and releasing the oil into the bath. The oil is recovered by continuous over flow arrangement. The roasted nuts are centrifuged to remove adhering oil, cooled and shelled by hand and leg operated shelling machines. The kernel with the adhering testa is scooped out using a sharp needle.

Steam roasting

The raw nuts are steam cooked at about 120-140 lbs/sq inch pressure. Shell oil can be extracted in later stages by crushing. The nuts are shelled by hand and leg operated shelling machines.

A general comparison of the above three methods would show that the oil bath method and steam roasting systems require more initial investment and higher maintenance costs: the drum roasting method being the cheapest. From the point of view of environmental pollution the safest is the steam roasting method.

PROCESSING AT ORCHARD LEVEL

The processing of cashew in the orchard is mainly confines to removal of raw nuts from cashew apple and drying. Harvest only fully matured nuts. Usually, nuts are picked when they fall off from the tree. Best quality nuts are obtained, where fresh fallen fruits are collected. The apples are removed and the nuts are sun dried for 2 - 3 days to reduce moisture from 25 percent to below 9 percent. It is very essential to dry the nuts after harvest to prevent spoilage during subsequent storage. This helps the kernel to retain their quality, particular the flavour. However, if cashew apples are used for processing, it is better to harvest them from the tree without damaging the apples. The mature nuts will sink in water while the immature/unfilled ones will float. This test could be used to find out whether the nuts are mature or not.

PROCESSING OF RAW NUTS AT FACTORIES

The nuts which are required to be processed at factory should be dried again for 1-2 days to reduce and maintain the moisture level of 7 - 8 percent. The processing of raw nuts involves roasting, shelling, drying, peeling, grading and packing. The steps involved in commercial processing of cashew nuts are detailed below :-

Roasting

Roasting of raw nuts is done to separate adhering shell from the kernel. There are three types of roasting viz, drum roasting, oil bath roasting and steam roasting. Steam roasting is the commonly used method by most of the processing units. In the case of steam roasting, the raw nuts are steam roasted at about 100-lb pressure for about 25-30 minutes. Then the nuts are allowed to cool for 24 hours and taken for shelling.

Shelling

Cashew nuts after roasting and cooling are to be shelled to remove kernels. One has to be very careful while shelling the nuts. Hands are to be protected from Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) which is highly corrosive. Hand gloves should be used while shelling. For the same reason, it is advisable to dust the nuts with wood ash. Commercial processing units use foot operated shell cutters (mechanical device) for shelling. This device consists of a pair of blade (knives) shaped in the counter of half a nut which could be operated by foot. The blades cut through the shell all around the nut, leaving the kernel untouched. After shelling the kernels and shell pieces are separated manually. The nuts have to be grouped into various sizes, each size matching a pair or blades of appropriate size.

Drying

The kernels after shelling will have moisture content of more than 6 per cent. Drying of these kernels is necessary to prevent fungus attack during subsequent storage and to facilitate peeling of testa. The kernels are to be dried to moisture content of about 4 - 5 per cent. This is done by drying the kernels in hot chambers at 70 - 80 C in perforated trays for about 6 - 8 hours. Uniform drying could be achieved with a cross flow drier using forced hot air circulation through the kernel layers. In order to ensure uniform drying, the position of the trays has to be changed frequently, as scorching may occur at hotter places. Excess drying of kernels leads to kernels becoming very brittle resulting in higher breakage. After drying, the kernels are kept in the moist chamber for 24 hours which facilitates easy removal of testa (peeling) and minimizes broken kernels.

Peeling

This process involves the removal of testa (seed coat) from the kernel. Peeling is done using a sharp knife or bamboo piece. Care has to be taken while removing the testa. If kernels are scorched more it results in poor quality kernels.

Grading

Packaging