Cocoa production to decline due to outbreak of swollen shoot disease
Unfavorable weather conditions to impact cocoa production
Agriculture now cannot continue to be based on rain-fed agriculture or the traditional way
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo has stated that Ghana’s agriculture cannot continue to depend on rain-fed agriculture.
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For this reason, he stated that irrigation will be boosted to cocoa farms to mitigate the effects of climate change.
A monthly report by the International Cocoa Organisation for April 2022 projected that cocoa production for the 2021/22 season may reduce by one-third.
This is as a result of rainfall patterns and less conducive weather conditions as well as the outbreak of swollen shoot disease.
Speaking in an interview with Citi Business News, Joseph Boahen Aidoo said, “From November, December through to about the second half of March this year there were no rains. And when we don’t have rains at all definitely there will be no flowers and there will be no fruit.
So, we actually know that the crop outlook is not as good as the previous years. Last year, we had a lot of rain even during the Harmattan. What we are doing for sustainable production is introducing irrigation. That is the only solution.
Agriculture now cannot continue to be based on rain-fed agriculture or the traditional way. Now, we have to change, we have to seriously consider irrigation in the country. Not only for cocoa but for all forms of agriculture, even cattle ranching and all these things have to be by irrigation,” he said.
The Cocoa Market Report for April 2022 showed that the first half of the 2021/22 cocoa season saw a rebound in demand for cocoa.
The increase in demand for cocoa was due to the resumption of the air travel sector as well as the recommencement of seasonal festivities.
Joseph Boahen Baidoo is CEO of COCOBOD
