DEVOLUCIÓN O CANCELACIÓN DE LA GARANTÍA DEFINITIVA

Most cocoa in the world is produced in small farms (<5 ha), with low use of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) and low productivity (<700 kg/ha). However, plantations with hundreds of hectares, with high use of inputs and high productivity (as high as 2–3 tons kg/ha) exist. In the small farms, most operations are done by the family members; while in the plantations, they are usually done by dozens of employees.

Cacao is commonly planted under the shade of other trees (forest trees, coconuts, rubber trees) but also, in a minor scale, under full sun. Usually, around 1000 cocoa trees are planted per hectare. In most producer countries, cocoa is planted by seeds from hybrid varieties (crosses between clones) produced by research institutions, or seeds collected in the farm or in neighbor farms. More recently, however, there is a trend in some countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Malaysia) followed by farmers to use clonal varieties produced by grafting, rooted cuttings, or, in few cases, tissue culture.

Hybrid seeds are usually planted as a mixture of few to several varieties and they may vary in different plots of the farm and among farms. Therefore, usually the cocoa beans produced in these areas have different sizes, shapes, colors, pulp content, and genetic backgrounds, and this makes it difficult to standardize the protocols for bean fer- mentation, drying, and roasting. With the use of clonal varieties, par- ticularly when monoclonal plots are used in the farm, this variation is considerably reduced and eventually fermentation protocols, for example, can be developed for specific clones.

The first pods in a cocoa tree are produced two to three years after planting in the field. Many crops are produced during the year in the same tree, with one or two peaks per year, depending on the climate. Cocoa pods containing the beans are harvested, manually at intervals of 15–30 days during the harvest seasons, when pods reach maturity (4–7 months after pollination).

Often, only a portion of the pods on a tree are ripe at the harvest time and the separation of ripe/unripe pods is not always made by farmers at that time. First, for economical reasons or time constraints, both ripe and unripe pods are harvested and processed together. Second, correct identification of pod maturity is not easy, particularly when the farmer is not familiar with the cocoa variety or has low

experience. Thus, in farms, it is common to find piles of harvested cocoa pods with different maturity status. The differences in matura- tion affects the fermentation process and so the quality of the beans (Sadoux 1961; Samah et al. 1993).

After the pods are harvested, they are left in the field or stored close to the breaking area for varying numbers of days before break- ing. Usually, a machete is used to break the pods and the beans are immediately separated from the husks, but small pieces of husks can eventually be mixed with the beans. The storage of the pods after harvest affects the content of water, dry matter and sugars in the pulp, and then the fermentation process (Biehl et al. 1989). These authors showed that the content of water in the pulp (and then the pulp vol- ume) and the bean dry matter can be reduced by 40–50% with storage. After breakage of the pods, the beans are put to ferment, most commonly at the farm, but also in central facilities in some coun- tries. The way cocoa is fermented varies significantly among coun- tries, and among farms within countries. This may range from no fermentation at all through to well-fermented beans, and from using very simple structures (bean heaps in banana leaves) through more complex ones (batteries of fiberglass or wood boxes). Most commonly, cocoa is fermented as heaps covered with banana leaves, in baskets or wooden boxes. Procedures for cocoa fermentation are reviewed in Thompson et al. (2007) and are described in detail by Amoa-Awua (2014, Chapter 3 of this book).

Cocoa is mainly planted in the humid tropics, under favorable cli- mate conditions to diseases. Therefore, cocoa production is limited by severe disease epidemics. Some authors have estimated that around 40% of the world cocoa production is lost to diseases (van der Vossen 1997). Black pod rot, caused by Phythophthora spp. (P. palmivora, P.

capsici, P. megakarya, P. citrophthora), is the most important disease

worldwide, occurring in most producer countries and causing losses as high as 30% of the world production (Wood and Lass 1985). At favorable conditions, the losses by black pod rot can reach 90% at farm level (Gregory 1974). The major symptom of the disease is a brown or black lesion on the pods and, at a more advanced stage, the rotting of the pods with complete loss of the beans (Gregory 1974). However, other symptoms including canker on the trunk and leaf lesions can also occur. Black pod rot is controlled mainly by fungicides and

prophylactic measures (infected pods removal, pruning, soil drainage) (Oliveira and Luz 2005), although resistant varieties have also been pursued (Luz et al. 1996).

In West Africa, the major cocoa producer region, the most important disease is caused by virus of the genus Badnavirus, the cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV) (Dzahini-Obiatey et al. 2010). CSSV is transmit- ted by mealybugs (Planococcus citri and P. njalensis, mainly) and causes leaf discoloration, roots and shoots swelling, and eventually death of the tree (Muller and Sackey 2005). The CSSV disease is restricted to West Africa. In this region, particularly in Ghana, the disease has caused the death or eradication of over 200 millions of trees (Dzahini-Obiatey et al. 2010). The control of the CSSV disease is mainly done by tree eradication, control of the insect vector, and isolation of infected areas, however, disease resistance and cross-protection with mild strains of the virus have also been tried (Dzahini-Obiatey et al. 2010).

In Latin America, the most important diseases, which are restricted to the region, are the witches’ broom and frosty pod rot, caused by the fungi Moniliophthora perniciosa and Moniliophthora roreri, respectively. Both diseases cause necrotic lesions in the pods which often prog- ress to damage the whole pod and beans (Oliveira and Luz 2005). Differing from the frosty pod disease which is specialized on infect- ing pods only, the witches’ broom can infect other organs of the cocoa tree, including flower cushions and young flushes which results in hypertrophied overflushing, giving origin to the typical broom symp- tom. These two diseases are responsible for major pod losses in Latin American countries. In Brazil, after the introduction of the witches’ broom in 1989, a drop in the country’s production of 75% was observed (Lopes et al. 2007) and in some areas yield losses reached 90% of the pods produced (Luz et al. 2005). Frosty pod and witches’ broom have been controlled by infected tissue removal, fungicides, and bio- logical control (Oliveira and Luz 2005). However, disease resistance is the major control measure used in some countries to control witches’ broom (Lopes et al. 2011).

In addition to reducing the yield of cocoa pods, diseases can also affect the fermentation process. Efraim (2009) reported that beans taken from pods infected by witches’ broom (Moniliophthora perniciosa) had less con- tent of pulp and gave different fermentation kinetics with respect to tem- perature and pH change than beans from uninfected pods.