Cameroon’s 2010-11 Cocoa Production Gets Boost From Young Trees

Cameroon, Africa’s fourth-biggest cocoa producer, may exceed a target for the 2010-11 season after a program to distribute new trees took effect, the country’s state-controled industry group said.

“Production will certainly go beyond 200,000 metric tons by the end of the season,” said John Atanga, communications officer for the Cocoa Development Authority, in a phone interview today, declining to give a specific figure. Cameroon’s August-to-July harvest period produced 198,000 tons in 2009-10, according to the Cocoa and Coffee Board.

Between 2008 and 2010, the agency provided 14.1 million new cocoa trees to farmers in the center, south and eastern production zones, Atanga said. They were sold for 50 CFA francs($0.10), subsidized from the usual price of 250 francs, he said.

“The plants distributed in 2008 are already bearing fruits and production is expected to step up,” he said. Aging trees, which provide fewer pods than younger ones, in Ivory Coast and Cameroon may hinder international supplies of the chocolate ingredient, Mother Earth Investments AG said in October.

The plants are grown on 11,500 hectares of new farmland, Atanga said, though the number of trees provided is “far from satisfying demand.” Cameroon’s 4 million cocoa  farmers need about 60 million plants each year, he added.

Cameroon ranks behind Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria as Africa’s top growers. March delivery beans shed 24 pounds, or 1.1 percent, to 2,115 pounds per ton at 1:52 p.m. in London trading.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-07/cameroon-s-2010-11-cocoa-production-set-to-increase-with-younger-trees.html)