C A C A O
Production Guide
• 2014 •
Introduction
Philippines can be a potential producer of cocoa.
The climatic conditions and soil characteristics are conducive to
growing cocoa. There is presently an increasing interest from local
farmers because local and international demand for cocoa products
is way beyond the production capacity of the country and world
prices have been constantly favorable. With a positive attitude to-
wards sustainable cacao production in the country, the Philippines
can compete globally in the world’s supply of cocoa products.
According to statistics, the country’s supply reached a
deficit of 44,349 metric tons a year (2005) against local consump-
tion. Production was then nearly 5000 metric tons in 2005. Local
consumption then reached nearly 50,000 metric tons. There is
indeed a large demand for local production of cocoa beans.
With the present civil war happening in Ivory Coast which produ-
ces about 40% of the world’s cacao, major buyers (mostly from
the US and Europe) are seeking alternate supply elsewhere.
Cacao is considered an equatorial crop (crops that thrives well on
regions occupying the equator), the Philippines has a great potential
growing cacao.
Selection of Varieties
There are many varieties of cacao but the National Seed Industry
Council (NSIC) has registered and approved only 9 varieties/clones
of cacao. The NSIC approved clones are BR 25, K 1, K 2, UIT 1,
ICS 40, UF 18, S 5, K 4 and K 9.
Cacao Production Guide
Five (5) of the nine (9) varieties are as follows:
1. BR25 (CC-99-05)
o Reddish (red with green) pod color
when still young that turns to yellow
as it matures.
o First flowering starts at 16.12 months
and fruiting follows at 17.70 months
o Pod shape is AMELONADO
characterized by an ovoid shape
without a prominent point and with a
diameter greater than 50% of the
length.
o Resistant to insect pests and diseases is moderate.
2. ICS 40
o Starts to flower at the age of
17.63 months & fruiting
follows at 19.63 months.
o Pod shape is Cundeamor
describe as a variety with
elongated cylindrical fruit
with ridges, a rugose surface, pronounced bottleneck
and sharp point.
o Moderately resistant to insect pests and diseases
3. UIT 1 (CC-99-02)
o It flowers at the age of 16.80
months in the stage of first
fruiting.
o Pod shape is Cundeamor.
Pod length is 20.7 cm and
width of 8.65 cm.
o Canopy diameter is 278 cm. Moderately resistant to
insect pests and diseases.
4. K 1
o It flowers at 23.20 months
and bears fruit at 25.10 months
o Pod shape is Amelonado
with superficial ridges and a
smooth surface.
o Pod is red in color while still young and becomes yellow/
orange when mature.
o It is moderately resistant to known insect pests & diseases
Cacao Production Guide
5. K 2
o It flowers at 21.10 months
and bears fruit after three
months or at 24.12 months.
o It is moderately resistant to
known insect pests &
diseases.
Propagation by seeds
• Collect seeds only from ripe and healthy pods.
• Select seeds that are uniform in size. Discard seeds that are
swollen and of different shape
• Select bigger seeds since the possibility that they would
produce vigorous & fast growing seedlings are high.
• Remove mucilage that covers the seeds by rubbing the seeds
with sawdust or sand.
• Wash the seeds to effectively remove the mucilage.
• Cacao seeds are sensitive to fungal attacks and could lead to
non-germination. It is best to soak cleaned seeds in fungicide
solution for about 10 minutes. Follow strictly instructions
indicated in labels.
• Spread the seeds on wet sacks and cover with wet newspaper
for 24 hrs.
• Keep it moist but well ventilated to avoid formation of fungi.
• Start collecting seeds that show sign of germination (a pig
tail-like root appears on one side). Usually, germination starts
after two days.
• Sow the pre-germinated seeds not more than 1 cm deep in
prepared polybags. Be sure seeds are sown with the pigtail-
root pointed downwards.
• Use 8” x 10” polybags. The soil must reach 2 to 3 cm from the
top of the plastic bag.
• Potting medium
o Mix completely composted organic materials to improve
the soil characteristics such as water holding capacity,
nutrient content and soil texture.
o If possible sterilize soil by boiling soil with water in drums
or other convenient containers. In some cases, spraying
formaline solutions also help sterilize soils. Cheapest way
to sterilize soil is the use solar drying.
o Loamy to sandy loam soils are the most suitable medium
in terms of physical property for raising seedlings.
o Liming is used for soils with less than pH 5
Cacao Production Guide
Nursery Establishment and Management
• Choose site which are near roads.
• Choose flat grounds.
• Availability of quality water sources like good water table for
shallow wells, presence of irrigation canals or other natural water
source like river or creeks. Also, free from saline waters.
• Free from water-logging and presence of nearby drainage
facilities
• For cacao seedlings, shading material is a must. 0 to 2 month
old seedlings require 70 to 80% shade. However, gradual removal
of shading is recommended to prepare seedlings for field planting.
Shading materials may use materials in the vicinity of the nursery
itself. This is to avoid additional expenditures.
• The period of keeping the seedlings in the nursery affects the
arrangement of the bags. Polybag arrangement must be systema-
tically carried out to facilitate maintenance and grafting. Normally,
a twin row with alternate path of 45 cm in width is recommended.
In order to enhance the seedling growth and to avoid the seedling
etiolation, the seedlings are usually spaced further apart from each
other when the seedlings are 2 to 3 months old.
• The distance is 25 to 30 cm apart starting from the middle point
of the polybag. The distance gradually increases when the seed-
lings are kept in the nursery for a longer period.
Weeding: Weeds do not
normally cause problems in
the nursery and those that
appear can be removed
without much expendi-
ture on labor. On the other
hand, weeds growing along
spaces in between the
blocks may be controlled by
cutting down with scythes.
The use of herbicide is not
recommended. Therefore
weeding could be done manually or by mulching with available mate-
rials such as rice hull.
Fertilizer application is carried out after the first leaf hardens
and should be based on the result of soil analysis. If analysis is not
available, incorporate 15-35 grams of diammonium phosphate (18-
48-0) per bag depending on the size of polybag. The use of granular
fertilizer is also done when the leaves are dry to avoid leaf scorching.
Cacao Production Guide
Culling/Selection: To ensure uniform growth and development of the
seedlings to be planted in the field, cull out the poor-growing seed-
lings in the nursery. This practice may be carried out by removing the
bags containing seeds which did not germinate and small, crinkled
seedlings.
Transplanting: To reduce the seedling shock during transplanting, it
is necessary to rotate the polybag to a few degrees one week be-
fore field planting. It is done for the seedlings whose leaves have
hardened and especially for those which roots have penetrated the
ground. Watering has to be done for a few days later. Field planting
must be started at the onset of the rainy season. Unless irrigation is
available, field planting during the dry season is not advisable.
Vegetative Propagation
Vegetative propagation gives more advantage in terms of
reproduction of true-to-type trees, more uniform growth, early to bear
flowers, and the clone perpetuates most if not all important charac-
ters of the original seedling mother tree like pod value, bean size, fruit
wall thickness and others. Types of vegetative propagation are patch
budding, nodal grafting, and conventional cleft grafting.
Patch Grafting is the propagation of true-to-type trees using
buds from any of the nine NSIC approved clones while Nodal Grafting
promotes propagation on the sides of the seedling using nodes. The
Conventional cleft grafting technique is similar to the procedure used
in grafting mangoes where rootstocks are cut horizontally leaving only
two leaves behind. Scion of selected variety is attached to rootstocks
with an inverted V shape and fastened to each other using thin plastic
sheet covering all wounds to prevent drying.
Planting and Farm Establishment
Soil Requirement
Best soil is made-up of aggregated clay or loamy sand with
50% sand, 30-40% clay, and 10-20% silt. Deep soil, about 150 cm,
highly favors the growth of cacao with pH of 5.0 to 6.5
Climatic Requirement
Temperature ideal for cacao lies between a mean maximum
of 30-32°C and mean minimum of 18°C. Altitude of the area should lie
between 300-1200 meters above sea level. Suitable temperature is
generally found in an altitude up to 700 m. Cacao thrives best in areas
under Type IV climate which has an evenly distributed rainfall throughout
the year.
Cacao Production Guide
Establishment of Shade Crops
Newly plan-
ted cocoa trees need
75% shade (25%
direct sunlight over-
all) during their first
year. This can be re-
duced to a 50% le-
vel of overall shade
in their second year.
After that, the pod
bearing cocoa trees
need to be shaded
only about 25% den-
sity of direct sunlight
for the rest of the co-
coa tree’s life span.
Permanent
shade crops that
O - Shade trees X - Cacao trees
have a thin canopy,
tall trunk and do not defoliate seasonally are ideal to intercrop with
cocoa trees for long periods. Some suitable crop bearing varieties are
coconut, cashew, longan, durian, mango and mangosteen. Both cacao
and shade trees can be planted at 6 x 3 m.
In the case that shade crops do not create enough shade for
cocoa seedlings growth, temporary structures can be made from other,
easily available materials such as palm fronds, sugar cane leaf, and
etc.
Staking and Spacing
• Planting points are to be marked with stakes using suitable size and
length of cable wire or guide from straight line planting.
• Most common distance :
High density 1.5 to 2.0 x 6.0 m = 2,300 trees/ha.
Double hedge row
Low density = 3 x 2m = 1666 plants/ha
or 2.5 x 2.5 m = 1600 plants/ha
• Depending on the shade from existing trees and tree crops, and soil
fertility, the planting density of cocoa varies from 400-1100 plants/ha. In
the case of intercropping in coconut and cashew, the density of cocoa
averages about 600 plants/ha. Basal fertilizers are very important to
enhance the growth of young cocoa trees in the establishment stage.
Cacao Production Guide
Planting
1. Right time to plant is during early morning or late afternoon.
2. It is not advisable to plant seedling with young and soft flush
leaves as they are susceptible to sunburn, planting shocks or
stress.
3. Best season to plant in the field is during the onset of rainy
season.
4. Size of the hole should be big enough to accommodate the
ball of the soil mass.
5. Normally, a hole of 30cm wide x 30cm long and 30cm deep.
6. In holing, the surface of soil should be separated from
the sub-soil.
Care and Maintenance
Weeding
Manual by ring weeding method 1 meter radius from the stem
as removed with the use of sickle.
Fertilization
In the absence of soil analysis (PCARRD, 1989) recommend-
ed rates of fertilizer application for various ages of trees as shown in
Table 1.1
Cacao Production Guide
Table 1.1
Months after field
FERTILIZER APPLICATION/PLANT (g)
planting
N P K
1 6.4 6.4 6.4
4 8.5 8.5 8.5
8 8.5 8.5 8.5
12 12.8 12.8 12.8
18 17 17 17
24 27 27.3 38.5
TOTAL 80.5 80.5 91.7
Pruning
Pruning is done to increase cacao production
• Reduce pest and diseases infestation
• Control the shape and height of the tree to ensure easy access
for harvesting.
Steps
1. Pruning cocoa trees can increase production,
make tree maintenance easier, and reduce
pest infestation and diseases.
2. Maintenance pruning starts with regularly
removing the low hanging branches or those
branches or those that grow downwards.
3. Second remove regularly the chupons on the stem.
4. Also remove all shoots and additional
branches that are within 60 cm of the
jorquette. Removal of shoots is necessary to
avoid production of non-essential branches.
5. Furthermore, it is important to remove
regularly all dead, diseased and badly
damaged branches.
6. Top pruning of the highest branches (up to 4m)
in order to keep the tree short for easy regular
harvesting and maintenance.
7. In addition to this it is recommended to open
the center of the tree by pruning in the shape
of a champagne glass in order to reduce
humidity and increase sunshine.
Cacao Production Guide
8. The cocoa pod borer does not like the sunshine and increased wind.
The additional sunshine to the stem will increase flowering as well.
9. The best time for heavy pruning is after the
high production cycle, approximately one
month before the rainy season. After pruning
it is recommended to apply fertilizer.
10. Pruning has to be done regularly and
correctly, results in more pods on the tree
with less infestation and diseases.
Pest and Disease Management
Most common cacao pests in the Philippines:
1. Cacao Pod Borer (Conopormorpha cramelerella)
o Regular harvesting (weekly harvesting of all ripe pods) breaks
the lifecycle of the pest.
o Sanitation: bury all empty cacao pod husks; remove all other
diseased pods, black pods, and pods eaten by animals from
the trees
o Pruning increases the sunlight, which the pest does not favor.
o Bagging or sleeving of the young pods with newspaper and
stapler (or plastic bag)
o Fertilizer application increases the general health of the tree
and in addition increasing cacao production.
2. Vascular Streak Dieback (caused by Oncobasidium theobromae)
o Sanitation pruning - cut off infected branches at 30 cm below
the infected area, and burn the infested cuttings
o Nurseries should use polyethylene roofing to ensure spores
cannot land on the seedlings
o Shade on the cacao trees should be reduced to lower humidity.
o Plant VSD tolerant varieties such as hybrids PA 173 x SCA9,
PA 138 x SCA 9, ICS 39 x SCA 6, PA 156 x IMC 67, PCA 156 x
SCA 9, ICS 95 x SCA 6, clones PBC 123, PBC 159, ICS & others.
3. Black Pod Rot and Canker Control Method
(caused by Phytophtora palmivora)
o Frequent harvesting to avoid pathogen sporulation.
o Harvest all the infested, dead and mummified pods and ideally
destroy or bury them.
o Prune the cacao trees and shade trees to reduce humidity.
o Have a good drainage system so that the spores cannot
spread in puddles of water.
o Trees that have died due to tree canker should be cut down
and destroyed.
o Scraping off the bark from the infected area and put paint or
soap on it.
Cacao Production Guide
4. Helopeltis Control method (Helopeltis: a sap-sucking bud)
Typically, Helopeltis likes open canopies and sunlight penetration.
Still, one should prune the trees carefully and reduce shade if it is
too heavy - this is to allow better visibility on the disease and better
application of control methods. (Note: if pruning is too rigorous,
new chupons will grow which are feeding ground for Helopeltis).
5. Stem Borer Control Method (Zeuzera)
o Cut off infested braches at 40 cm below the lowest larvae hole.
These branches should be destroyed.
o After pruning of an infested tree, big branches, especially those
with stem borer holes, should be burned.
o The hole can be covered or plugged with mud or wood to prevent
the larva to come out, so that it cannot feed and hatch, or cannot
breathe.
o Poking the larvae out with a piece of wire.
o Squirt some soap solution in the exit hole. After a while, the larva
will emerge from the hole, probably driven out by the unpleasant
soap fume. Catch and kill the Stem Borer.
Other Pest and Disease
Leaf Eater Damage
Cause: Insects such as caterpillars, cocoa loopers,
grasshoppers, locusts, leaf cutting ants, leaf
beetles.
Solution: Chemical control is effective. Shade
management is also important. Some shade
trees such as Leucaena are often associated with more caterpillar
problems. Open sunny conditions attract locusts and grasshoppers.
Red weaver ants may be effective in controlling leaf beetles.
BLISTERS and BLACK SPOTS
Sap suckers on young leaves
Cause: Insect such as thrips, aphids, leaf hoppers
and pysillids.
Solution: Chemical control. Take care to spray
underneath the leaves as well as on top.
Insect sap suckers
Cause: Thrips or aphids.
Solution: Control with chemicals and shade
management. Target spraying to affected plants
only. Thrips have natural enemies such as pirate
bugs watch out for them and avoid spraying them.
Cacao Production Guide
Harvest Management
Pod harvesting
Don’t harvest green pods and avoid over ripe pods because
bean size and quality will be reduced. Use secateurs to harvest
cleanly and safely, to protect flowering cushions
Pod storage
We should collect pods and store for 7 - 9 days for quicker
fermentation and better flavor of cocoa beans.
Pod opening and bean removal
The best way is to use a non-sharpened steel blade to crack the
pod then twist the pod open. You can also use a wooden hammer
or crack two pods together. Discard the placenta, pulp and soft
or empty beans, germinated beans and damaged beans from the
bean mass. Correct pod disposal is important to avoid pest and
disease buildup. The safest ways are composting or burying after
drying. Avoid leaving pod husks on the ground, as insects and
diseases can spread from these pods.
Bean fermentation
During cocoa bean fermentation, it is important to:
• Turn the bean mass after 2 days (48 hours) and 4 days (96 hrs.)
• Drain the juices (sweatings) from the bean mass
• Only use properly constructed wooden boxes with slats, or baskets
• Cover the beans with banana leaves and jute bags or cloth rags
• Fermentation will be completed in about 5- 6 days
• All mixing of beans should be made by wooden tools or hands
Bean drying
Once the beans have been fermented they must be dried
immediately under the sun on drying trays or baskets turned
regularly. It is important to:
• Cover with plastic shelters during rain or remove the beans to
a dry spot.
• During drying separate bean clusters, remove pod placenta, &
flat, damaged or germinated beans. Avoid using wood fired
kilns that produce smoke- this is not an approved drying
method and will result in smoke contaminated cocoa!
Bagging and storage
Keep bags of beans on a wooden palette in a dry and ventilated
place. Don’t put hot beans into plastic bags to avoid mould and
moisture increased.
Record keeping.
Record all weight of pods harvested, wet bean fermented, beans
dried in a record book, and dates of harvest, fermentation & drying.
Cacao Production Guide
PHILIPPINE MANUFACTURERS
STANDARDS FOR COCOA BEANS
Parameter Amount/Description
Bean count 100
Fully fermented 80-90%
Mouldy 3.0% max.
Slaty? Salty? 3.0% max.
Insect damaged/infested
Insect damaged/infested/ 2.5% max.
germinated
Waste/flat beans, 1.0% max.
fragments loose,
shells, nibs
Waste, foreign matter free from foreign matter
% nibs 85.0% max.
% shell 15.0% max.
% moisture 7.0% max.
pH 5.0-5.7
Uniformity not more than 12% of the beans
should be outside the range of
+/- 1/3 of the average weight
Odor and flavor no off flavor from over
fermentation, smoky
and hammy beans
Bean cluster free from bean cluster
Insects no live insects on or in the bags
of cocoa beans
Packaging 62.5 kg.
Cacao Production Guide
FARM MAINTENANCE
Maintenance of Infra-facilities
Road regravelling can be done when necessary (at least once a
year) to allow easy passage during rainy days.
Canals and Drainage
• Declogging of canals should be done at least once a month
• The presence of debris during rainy days aggravates silt build-up
• Desalting as needed norrmally every two years is important before
the canal is fully covered with silt and the desalting operation
becomes more expensive
OPERATIONAL COSTS
Cost Estimates in the Establishment of a Cacao Nursery
Price/ Cost to
Item Quantity Unit Unit produce 1500
(Php) seedlings
Labor (Shade Man
- 120.00 120.00
Construction) days
Potting - piece .30 .30
Nursery budding - piece 1.00 1.00
Polyethylene bags piece 0.68 0.68
Nursery
month 1,000.00 1,000.00
maintenance
Budding tape roll 25.00 25.00
D-ammonium
30 g bag 490.00 490.00
phosphate
Cacao pods piece 7.00 7.00
Seeds/pod 35 piece
Bud sticks
piece 6.00 6.00
(1m long)
Bud eye/bud stick 20 piece 120.00
1. Based on September 1998 market price
2. Assumes that the one contracting takes care of the
whole process
3. For field budding, cost per piece is Php2.00
4. Cost per seedling is Php3.82
Cacao Production Guide
Labor Costs in the Establishment (First Year)
of One-Hectare Cacao Farm
Monocrop at Under Coconut
Activity 1,500 trees at 1,000 trees
(PHP) (PHP)
Clearing 840.00 840.00
Planting of shade plants 240.00 240.00
Staking 420.00 240.00
Holing/Planting 2120.00 1,200.00
Replanting 120.00 120.00
Weeding/Slashing 4320.00 4,320.00
Fertilizer application 720.00 480.00
Monitoring of pests 120.00 120.00
Spraying 360.00 240.00
Total 7,800.00
Note: Excludes cost of labor for the construction of road, irrigation
and drainage
Type, Rate and Cost of Fertilizer Application to
Immature Cacao Plants (Per Plant)
Months After Complete Fertilizer Muriate of Potash
Planting Rate (g) Cost (PHP) Rate (g) Cost (PHP)
1 91.4 0.68 - -
4 121.4 0.90 - -
8 121.4 0.90 - -
12 182.8 1.35 - -
18 242.8 1.80 - -
24 390.0 2.89 37.3 0.25
Total 1149.8 8.5 37.3 0.25
Cacao Production Guide
Type, Rate and Cost of Fertilizer applied to
Immature Cacao Plants (Per Plant)
Muriate of
Ammophos Urea
Months After Potash
Planting Rate Cost Rate Cost Rate Cost
(g) (PHP) (g) (PHP) (g) (PHP)
1 62 0.43 5.2 0.04 21.3 0.14
4 83 0.58 8.1 0.06 28.3 0.19
8 83 0.58 8.1 0.06 28.3 0.19
12 128 0.90 11.1 0.08 42.7 0.29
18 170 1.19 14.8 0.10 56.7 0.39
24 273 1.91 23.7 0.16 91.0 0.62
Total 799 5.60 71 0.54 268.3 1.82
Note: Ammophos (16-20-0) at Php 350/bag Urea (45-0-0) at Php
340/bag and MOP at Php 340/bag
Rate and Cost of Fertilizers Applied Per Hectare to Immature
Cacao (2 years) after Field Planting
Monocrop Intercrop
Fertilizer (1,500 trees) (1,000 trees)
Options Cost Cost
Rate (g) Rate (g)
(PHP) (PHP)
1. Complete (14-14-14) 1,725 12,762.78 1,149.8 8,508.52
2. Muriate of potash 56 380.46 37.30 253.64
Cost of Combination
13,143.23 8,072.28
1. Ammophos 1,198.50 8,389.50 799.00 5,593.00
2. Urea 106.50 725.20 71.00 482.80
3. Muriate of potash 402.45 2,736.66 2568.30 1,824.44
Cost of Combination 11,850.36 7,900.24
Source: http://www.bar.gov.ph/agfishtech/crops/cacao and
Cacao: Techno-Guide For Cacao in the Philippines
(Issn:1655-3675)
Printed & distributed by:
DA-RFU 4B
in cooperation with the AGRIPINOY-HVCDP
