Cocoa Production

About Cocoa

• It is an important plantation crop grown for chocolates around the world.
• It is known as a crop of humid tropics and is native to Amazon basin of South America.
• It is mainly grown in an area of land around the equator between 20 degrees latitude north and south.
• Required climatic conditions
  • It can be grown up to 300 m above mean sea level. 
  • Rainfall: It requires an annual rainfall of 1500-2000 mm. 
  • Temperature: The temperature range of 15°-39°C with optimum of 25°C is considered ideal.
  • Soil: It requires deep and well drained soils. Majority of area under Cocoa cultivation is on clay loam and sandy loam soil. 
  • It grows well in the pH range of 6.5 to 7.0.
• Shade requirement
  • Cocoa was evolved as an under-storey crop in the Amazonian forests. Thus commercial cultivation of cocoa can be taken up in plantations where 50 per cent of light is ideally available. 
• Major producing regions in the world: About 70 percent of the world’s cocoa beans come from four West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.
• In India, it is mainly cultivated in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu mainly as intercrop with Arecanut and Coconut.

Q1) What is Humidity?

It is the amount of water vapor in the air. If there is a lot of water vapor in the air, the humidity will be high. The higher the humidity, the wetter it feels outside.

Source: Cocoa beans are in short supply: What this means for farmers, businesses and chocolate lovers