Australia-Indonesia Partnership to Boost Cocoa Production

Cocoa has been the main source of income for millions of smallholder farm families in Indonesia. The country is the world's third largest cocoa producer, after Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. But in the past years cocoa production has been cut by up to 50 percent because of pests and disease, aging trees and falling soil fertility. With the help of Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), things are about to change. ACIAR has brought together scientists from different research institutions, such as La Trobe University, University of Sydney and Mars Symbioscience, to develop disease-resistant and high-yielding cocoa varieties. The improved varieties will be tested in the Sulawesi region, home to more than half of the country's cocoa growers.

As a part of the project, farmers will be trained to identify genetically superior varieties in their germplasm. They will also be trained how to perform simple pest and disease control methods.

For the complete article, visit http://www.aciar.gov.au/cocoa