Wow - what a day it’s been!! And it’s only day 1…I cannot
wait for the rest of the week!
Throughout this week at the Mars Centre for Cocoa Science we
will be getting some first hand experience of the cocoa journey all the way
from bean (or slightly before) to bar. During our first day we experience the
first steps to this magical process…
1) Substrate preparation To plant new cocoa seeds
you need much more than mud! We made a mixture from natural earth (8 parts) and
manure (2 parts) adding to this limestone, phosphorus, micronutrients and
potassium.
Substrate Preparation
2)
Filling planting bags. Once the substrate is
prepared we filled small individual bags with it; each one will eventually
house and help germinate a cocoa tree. Once filled we brought the bags and
arranged them neatly in the plant nursery.
Filling in Planting Bags
Brad taking the planting bags to the nursery
3)
Planting pre-germinated seeds. To grow more
cocoa trees we used existing cocoa varieties and re-plant the seeds enclosed in
one of the pods hanging from its tree. A resistant cocoa breed pod was picked
(in our case B1150), opened (with a small machete) and the pulp with the seeds were
collected. Using some sawdust we were able to get rid of the stick moist pulp
and left with the cocoa seeds. Using these seeds we made holes on the top of
our planting bags (around 2cm deep) and drop the cocoa seed inside. 6-8 months
later these little seeds will germinate and grow into small plants.
Opening of a cocoa pod
Using sawdust to get rid of the pulp and moisture
Planting the seeds in the planting bags
4)
Grafting. Grafting is process by which a branch
of a resistant cocoa breed is fixed to a cocoa plant so that the two over time
become combined and the plant grows and takes on the characteristic of the
stronger cocoa variety. The process of grafting is used to make cocoa plants
more resistant to disease & pests and also to increase their productivity. There
a 3 types of grafting – top grafting, side grafting and bud grafting. After a
demonstration by Sam and Carlo we each top grafted a cocoa plant ourselves. A
few months after the two plants become one and the plant is then ready to be
taken out of the nursery and planted in a field, and after another 6-12 months
will produce cocoa pods (12-18months after planting).
Shilin and Rany grafting their plants
Tim, Fadi and I with our grafted plants
5)
Harvesting. Once the plants are grown, twice a
year the cocoa pods are harvested from the trees. We spread ourselves out on a
hill, part of the Mars Centre for Cocoa Science grounds, and started to harvest
the pods. We cut the ripe pods (which are actually the cocoa plant’s fruit!)
from the cocoa plant using gardening scissors and collected these with small
forks and baskets. This process was very laborious as the cocoa pods themselves
are actually deceivingly heavy…
Once
we had picked and collected all the cocoa pods on our hill we set about opening
them and taking out the seeds with the pulp – which is what will then be used
to make chocolate.
At the end of the day we were incredibly proud of ourselves
and had together collected about 90Kg of cocoa beans!!
Stay tuned for the continuation of the cocoa making process
(journey) in the next few days...
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