Nkrankwanta (B/A), June 9, GNA - The Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CCSVD) Control Unit of the Ghana Cocoa Board is to embark on a nation-wide exercise to rid all cocoa farms of mistletoe, a parasitic plant that retards growth and yield of cocoa trees. The Reverend Abaka Awusi, the Unit's Director, who announced this during a cocoa farmers' rally at Nkrankwanta in Dormaa Municipality, said the farmers' access to government's subsidized fertilizer this year would be partially dependent on their level of co-operation in the mistletoe removal exercise.
He said all that the farmers needed to do was to participate fully in the exercise, when those billed to remove the parasite got to their farms. Rev. Awusi reminded the farmers that old cocoa farm lands that were abandoned for lack of fertility could be re-cultivated with cocoa using Hi-tech and improved Cocoa Disease and Pest Control (CODAPEC) methods. Rev. Dr. Laud Ollenu, Chairman of the unit's management committee, noted that swollen shoot virus like the HIV had no cure and the only known remedy was to cut down the affected cocoa trees, and replant with seedlings that were resistant to the virus.
He advised the farmers to refrain from picking ordinary cocoa pods from trees on their farms for purposes of nursing but rather to consult with cocoa extension officers and the seed production unit for advice and supply. A former Director of the unit, Francis E. Nsiah, urged the farmers to take full advantage of the government's 60 percent subsidy on the fertilizer to reclaim land fertility and maximize yields. He announced that the unit was liaising with relevant agencies to develop and adopt regulations aimed at protecting cocoa farms against wanton lumbering from the hands of timber contractors.
Mr. Nsiah explained that all cocoa farms in the country were supposed to be sprayed six times each year, and the government was bearing half the cost of the exercise with the farmers expected to pay the other half. "As farmers working to amass profit and also to sustain the country's enviable image in the cocoa industry, it is worth reminding you to refrain from buying cheap chemicals and to apply approved chemicals in right proportions to complement the spraying exercise," he said. Mr. Peter Kwaw Sakyim, Brong-Ahafo Regional Manager of the Quality Control Division of COCOBOD, noted that a search conducted by the Cocoa Research Institute in 2006, revealed that cocoa beans not fermented for more than six days were fraught with the problem of purple beans. He urged the farmers to ensure maximum fermentation of their cocoa beans to make them capable of meeting the demands of world market. During an open forum, the farmers urged the government to consider pegging the producer price of cocoa at par with what pertained in neighbouring countries to discourage the smuggling of the crop. They also sought clarification on several issues confronting their operations as cocoa farmers, and mentioned delays in the payment of their bonuses, pension scheme for cocoa farmers, what compensation there were for farmers who lost their entire farms to the swollen shoot virus, and basic problems confronting the cocoa spraying exercise in their district. Dr. Francis Oppong of the Cocoa Research Institute assured the farmers that action was being expedited on some of their concerns. He said to avoid diversion of chemicals meant for the cocoa spraying exercise for instance, a decision had been taken to give the chemicals to farmers in small groups to keep and supervise during the spraying exercise.
