KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries says there has been an 87 per cent increase in cocoa production yield in areas where the Frosty Pod Rot (FPR) Management Project was initiated.

The FPR Management Project is, among other things, designed to curtail the spread of the Frosty Pod Rot disease, a fungal disease caused by the Moniliophthora roreri, which produces millions of spores that are easily spread by wind, water, and mostly human activities.

Chief Plant Quarantine and Produce Inspector in the Ministry, Sanniel Wilson, confirmed that the project, which was undertaken in 11 communities in St Mary, assisted with the increase in production.

“When we looked at the output using data from the Richmond Cocoa Fermentary, we recognised that for every single community in which we had the intervention, we had an increase,” she said.

“For the entire period of 2017- September 2018 before we started our project implementation, we collected 531 boxes of cocoa in the 11 communities. For the period 2018-2019, we are now seeing an increase of 492 boxes, which is reflecting an 87 per cent increase over the previous year. Since 2016, the country was producing an average of 100 metric tonnes of cocoa annually. Now we’re seeing an increase to 145 metric tonnes. This is reflecting a 45 per cent increase,” Wilson explained.

Wilson noted that the components of the project, which include cultural management and chemical management is “reaping success” which is evident by the increase in cocoa production yield.

“What we want now is for farmers to continue maintaining their fields, looking out for the FPR disease and getting rid of those infected pods early by treating with agricultural lime,” she said.

“We are now seeing positive signs that we can break the back of this disease (so) let us stay the course,” Wilson added.