Cocoa is back in favour with Indian farmers after a disappointing start in the 80s. However, this time cocoa is being promoted more as an inter-crop to coconut and arecanut to spread the risk. According to the Kochi-based Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development (DACCD), Indian cocoa production is likely to cross 17,000 tonne in five years from the present 10,000 tonne.

DACCD has plans to bring another 75,000 hectare under cocoa cultivation in the next five years, Venkatesh N Hubballi, director of DACCD told FE. ?Perception on cocoa farming has entirely changed in the past few years. Cocoa is now being promoted as inter-crop unlike earlier when it was sold as a mono-crop,? Venkatesh said. This reduces the risk for farmers even in times of falling prices, he added. The low productivity of cocoa also adds to the advantage of using it as an inter-crop. Indian productivity is lower by 40-50% compared to the global standards, which is close to 1,000 kg per hectare, Venkatesh added.

Focus of the cocoa crop expansion programme will be Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the directorate spending Rs 77 crore under the 11th Plan. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka together, have around 3,00,000 hectare of irrigated coconut plantations, which can be exploited to provide additional income for farmers, he said. Arecanut farmers also can turn to cocoa to mitigate the risk of arecanut farming.

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