Cocoa farmers urged to ferment beans properly before sale

Akyem Oda (E/R), Nov. 29, GNA- The Quality Control Department of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) on Wednesday advised cocoa farmers to ensure adequate fermentation and drying of cocoa beans before sale to help protect the premium status the country earns on the export of quality cocoa.

Mr Kwadwo Kyei, a Senior Quality Control Officer of the Akyem Oda District of the Quality Control Department gave the advice when the Akyem Oda District of the Produce Buying Company (PBC) rewarded 50 hardworking farmers at a ceremony at Akyem Oda. He said even though 180,345 bags of cocoa were sealed at Akyem Oda for the 2005 and 2006 light crop season, the highest in the Eastern Region, no grades one and two were recorded due to the incidence of purple colour.

Mr Kyei said the purple colour was as a result of bad fermentation and said the only way they could avoid the occurrence was to ferment the beans very well for six days before putting it on the drying mat and also ensure that they were thoroughly dried before sale.

He urged marketing clerks to do pre-sale inspection to ensure that the beans do not contain any foreign matter before purchase. Mr Yaw Adjei Sakyi, the District Manager of the PBC cautioned the farmers against using child labour on their farms.

He told them that overseas buyers had decided not to purchase cocoa from countries that use child labour on their farms. Mr Sakyi advised the farmers to accept only Akwafo cheques whenever the sold their cocoa, reminding them of the numerous benefits they would derive from the cheque system. He urged marketing clerks to stop pre-financing the purchase of cocoa; a practice, which he said had brought untold hardships to some of them.

The District Manager told the farmers that the PBC was negotiating with the Government to enable them to access funds from the Millennium Challenge Account to expand their farms.

Nana Kwame Asiedu, the deputy Eastern Regional Chief farmer commended the government on the introduction of the mass cocoa spraying exercise, which he said was boosting the cocoa industry. He appealed to cocoa marketing clerks to monitor the exercise carefully in their various communities to ensure its success. The farmers were presented with radio sets, solar torchlights, cutlasses and Wellington boots.