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... nestlé said it has increased its donations of disease-resistant cocoa trees to farmers in ivory coast in a bid to boost the quality of the beans that are produced in the country ... the distribution forms part of the firm’s wider cocoa plan initiative, a spokesperson for the company told confectionerynews ... launched in 2009, the programme aims to boost sustainable cocoa supply in ivory coast and other cocoa producing regions ... under the plan, nestlé said it will invest chf110m (€94m) in cocoa plant science and sustainability initiatives over the next decade ... the investment builds on the chf60m the firm has invested in cocoa sustainability initiatives over the last 15 years, said the firm ... plantlets donation the chocolate giant said it began its research into the production of higher quality, high-yield cocoa over 10 years ago at its research centre in tours, france ... based on the work and research done at these two centres, the company said it has made a decision to distribute one million high-yield cocoa plantlets to ivory coast farmers each year, starting from next year

... the swiss company has a policy of giving away the trees but retains the option to buy the cocoa produced from them ... "we are satisifed with the 140,000 plants we have supplied to farmers and we are fully prepared for the next batch of 600,000 new plants," serigne diop, director of cocoa research and development for nestle africa, told reuters in an interview ... pests such as black pod disease are an increasing problem in the world's top cocoa grower and remain a threat to what analysts otherwise expect to be a bumper crop this season of up to 1 ... the country's aging trees, many of them over 25 years old, are seen as a major structural problem that could hurt future supply ... old trees are low yielding and susceptible to sickness ... ivorian cocoa plantations yield 500 kilograms per hectare, compared with a tonne in ghana and 2 tonnes in indonesia ... but cocoa officials estimate ivory coast has some 3 billion cooca trees and ultimately only a state-supported programme of replanting will stem the decline in productivity ... cocoa sector reforms needed to halt the decline in ivorian yields have been held back by a political crisis that has persisted ever since a 2002-3 war split the country in two

... a breakthrough in cocoa genetics by a collaboration involving mars, usda and ibm will accelerate research into the production of trees that can better resist drought, disease and pests, and has met with an enthusiastic welcome from leading cocoa scientists in the uk ... the partnership, which includes scientists based at the agricultural research service (ars) of the us department of agriculture and science as well as researchers working at ibm’s thomas j watson research center, has achieved preliminary sequencing of the cocoa genome ... the team said it will benefit not only the chocolate industry, but cocoa growers in west africa, a region where 70 per cent of the world's cocoa is produced, and in other tropical zones ... fungal diseases can destroy seed-bearing pods and wipe out up to 80 per cent of the cocoa crop, and cause an estimated $700m in losses each year ... penny tricker, research fellow working on cocoa research at reading university, told confectionerynews ... com that the development represents a ‘breakthrough’ for cocoa research ... she explained that preliminary sequencing is the ‘hardest part’ of the genome discovery process and access to this data opens up multiple possibilities for researchers to use knowledge gained from the genome sequencing of other species, which will result in the transfer of their beneficial traits to cocoa trees ... we are now in a position to apply well documented gene pathways from other plants such as thale cress to try and produce cocoa trees that have better drought tolerance and oxidative stress resistance,” said tricker

... the correct mix of rain and sunshine is vital to the development of the cocoa crop ... cocoa trees need very wet weather, but they suffer when it is too overcast, because it deprives them of the sunlight they need for photosynthesis ... good rains have boosted cocoa arrivals to figures to beyond last season's levels ... farmer salam kone, who works on the outskirts of soubre, said, "we have a lot of the pods on the trees and we're expecting a lot of money from them ... "if this carries on, there will be less cocoa by october because of black pod

... "we're seeing the very early potential for a record main crop from west africa, which would give a sizeable world 2010/11 cocoa surplus," manley said ... "the majority of african cocoa trees are around 30 years old, and trees start declining in productivity from around 20 years of age," said manley, adding that only a small amount of african trees are part of re-planting and rejuvenation programs ... olam is one of the top four buyers of beans in the global cocoa trade alongside barry callebaut , adm and cargill [carg ... ivory coast cocoa exports are not yet reflecting this rise in production but manley said olam expects export figures will catch up over the next six to eight weeks ... liffe cocoa futures prices hit a 32-year high in july to trade at 2,465 pounds a tonne before slipping back ... liffe benchmark december cocoa futures traded up 14 pounds at 2,043 pounds a tonne as at 1304 gmt ... indonesia, the world's third largest cocoa producer, has also seen a rebound in production with olam estimating 2009-10 output at 600,000 tonnes, versus 490,000 tonnes in the previous crop year ... olam expects a small 2009/10 global surplus of between 30,000 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes of cocoa after several consecutive years of deficits ... recovering demand demand is expected to continue to recover from the recession-related dip in 2008-09, with olam forecasting global 2010 cocoa grindings to rise 4 percent on the year, although manley noted consumption in mature markets was "sluggish ... " olam estimates liffe cocoa futures prices to trade between 1,850 a tonne and 2,050 a tonne over the west africa main crop period which runs from october to april ... "if cocoa prices drop too much below 1,800 pounds a tonne ... liffe's july futures contract expired with a premium near 300 pounds a tonne over september cocoa as those short of the market and unable to deliver were caught out

... farmers in the west of ivory coast, the world's top cocoa growing nation, have battled black pod fungus for weeks after heavy rains brought the damp conditions in which it thrives ... farms visited by reuters all had trees with black pods growing alongside healthy ripe yellow or unripe green ones ... "pests worse" in villages near ivory coast's cocoa trading port of san pedro, which rivals the main commercial city abidjan as the world's top raw cocoa export point, farmers grumble about lack of government support to rid their crops of pests ... the markets are watching the end of the 2009/10 ivorian cocoa crop, which gives way to the new season in october, to see whether it can exceed last season's 1 ... as cocoa planters panic about pests, deki adama ouattara's shop for agricultural inputs flourishes ... farmers are not spacing their cocoa trees enough or cutting off branches to let in sunlight and lower the humidity, plus trees are too old ... government plans to reform the cocoa sector have been held up by a political crisis, which only long-delayed elections, currently scheduled for oct

... the chocolate industry needs to provide more financial support to cocoa growers in ghana to guarantee future supplies from the west african state, leading academics and conservationists have claimed ... the future of cocoa farming in ghana - a key source of cocoa for multinational chocolate makers - is under threat from unsustainable farming practices, while the prospect of falling earnings is discouraging farmers from cultivating the bean ... the growth in logging and the burgeoning trade in timber is endangering the rainforest and affecting rainfall in ghana, hitting cocoa farming and the country’s wider agriculture sector, dr john mason, ceo of the nature conservation research centre in ghana, said ... however, dr mason claimed unsustainable farming methods developed by cocoa farmers in ghana were also hurting the country’s rainforest ... cocoa farmers, encouraged by the fact that more sunlight provides a greater yield of cocoa pods, are removing the tree cover from their farms ... dr mason - and professor ken norris of reading university - said cocoa farmers were increasingly reducing or completely removing the “canopy” of trees from their farms to increase the level of sunlight hitting their cocoa trees - and contributing to climate change at a local level ... professor norris argued that, with financial help from the chocolate sector, cocoa farmers could be encouraged to keep their levels of canopy, help mitigate local climate change and “trade” the extra carbon dioxide “stored” in their farms by selling on “carbon credits” ... dr mason and professor norris were talking at the launch of source trust, a not-for-profit cocoa buying scheme that plans to charge more per tonne to improve the lives of cocoa farmers and their communities