COCOBOD starts free distribution of 60m cocoa seedlings

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has started the free distribution of 60 million hybrid cocoa seedlings to farmers nationwide.

The Deputy Director of Operations at the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), Reverend Dr Emmanuel Ahia Clottey, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the board’s best agronomy practices required that 1,200 of the seedlings be planted on every hectare of cocoa farm.

This means that 50,000 hectares would be covered by the 60 million seedlings to be distributed between now and July, this year.

COCOBOD has already distributed 70 million hybrid, high-yielding and disease-resistant seedlings free of charge to farmers.

So far, 70 million seedlings have been distributed in the last two cocoa seasons in line with the board’s resolve to replace aged, diseased and burnt farms with new and improved cocoa variety.

Fifty million seedlings were distributed in the 2014/15 cocoa season while 20 million were distributed in the previous season.

Rev. Dr Clottey explained that unlike the current crop of trees that took a minimum of five years to start yielding, the hybrid trees start yielding in two years, making it possible for farmers to reap the gains of their toils quicker than before.   

Replacing old trees

The free seedling distribution initiative by the board is aimed at replacing about 60 per cent of the country’s cocoa tree stock while increasing yields from the crop.

The CHED, a unit under COCOBOD, is partnering the Seed Production Division (SPD) of the board to nurse and distribute the seedlings.

While emphasising that the seedlings were meant for all registered farmers across the country, Rev. Dr Clottey said priority would be given to farmers whose seedlings were killed by drought or fires.

“Generally, last year’s transplanting went well but some farmlands were burnt or affected by drought. We have registered those farmers and they will be the first to receive,” he said. 

The seedlings were nursed in stages to help ensure that farmlands were cleared, treated and readied for transplanting, he added.

High-yielding varieties

The current varieties of cocoa are high-yielding, with the capacity to yield 1,000 kilogrammes of beans per hectare compared to existing trees, which yield an average of 450 kilogrammes per hectare.

“Let me also stress that it is advisable for farmers to follow the best agronomy practices given by the COCOBOD extension officers so that they can get high yields and organised farms that will be easier to maintain,” Rev. Dr Clottey said.

He further advised the farmers to make it a point to register with the various extension offices to ensure that their farms were measured for supplies.

Cost of exercise

The free seedlings distribution exercise augments the board’s free input distribution exercise, which has been going on for some time now.

Although COCOBOD is yet to quantify the monetary value of the seedlings and their distribution, the Deputy Executive Director of CHED said the exercise was a costly venture, hence the need for farmers to take it seriously to improve national cocoa output.

He said so far about 4,800 people had been engaged as casual workers in all the districts where the seedlings were being nursed at a cost to the board.

These investments, he said, were expected to be recouped in the long term, when the seedlings grow into trees and start adding to the national cocoa output.

Output is currently averaging 800,000 metric tonnes after peaking at one million tonnes in the 2010/2011 cocoa season.