The Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) is increasing its activities to revitalise the country’s ailing cocoa industry with an injection of $4.3 million for production of some 30,000 Frosty Pod Rot disease-tolerant seedlings.

Funding for the project was recently approved by JACRA in support of the agriculture ministry’s Production and Productivity Programme and will finance the production of the new planting material to commence in December 2020 at the Orange River Research Station in St Mary.

The research and development facility has a capacity for the production of approximately 60,000 seedlings and the medium-term objective is to enable the station to achieve 100 per cent output.

The new batch of seedlings is in addition to the 5,000 currently being nurtured for distribution within the next three months. Over the medium term, the objective is to bring the Orange River facility to full capacity and supply the 1,500 active cocoa farmers involved in the commercial growing of cocoa with disease-tolerant plants. These farmers utilise an estimated 1,350 hectares of land in the parishes of Clarendon, St Mary, Portland, St Catherine, and St Thomas for cocoa production.

Currently, Jamaica’s annual cocoa production fluctuates between 700 to 800 metric tonnes, while country has the capacity to produce as much as 2,500 metric tonnes.

Jamaican cocoa, rated among the “100 per cent Fine or Flavour” cocoas by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) has been plagued by prevalence of the Frosty Pod Rot disease across most of the cocoa-producing regions of the country.

Frosty Pod Rot is a disease that affects cocoa and is caused by an air-borne fungus and has caused serious damage to the cocoa industry, reducing crop yield by up to 80 per within the last two years.

Recently, in the wake of a serious outbreak of the disease, approximately 225 hectares of cocoa primarily in the parish of St Mary, which was hardest hit by the disease, had been pruned under the Frosty Pod Rot Management Programme. The efficacy of the pruning exercise is being evaluated, while the rejuvenation of cocoa farms with tolerant planting material continues apace.

Jamaica’s cocoa is the one of the local products where demand outstrips supply not just locally but internationally and JACRA is committed to the “urgent task of reinforcing the production base as this phase is the first rung of the value-added chain”.

Since its establishment in 2018, JACRA has responsibility for regulating and ensuring the sustainable development of the cocoa industry. Despite the challenges, JACRA is determined to maintain the momentum of positive developments in the sector. This commitment is reflected in the renewed effort to facilitate the production and distribution of disease-tolerant planting material as well as the rehabilitation of farm stock and the maintenance of optimum plant density.

Other measures being implemented include: expansion of the application of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP); broadening awareness and education along the cocoa value chain to enhance the production of high quality cocoa, while preserving its distinctive flavour; and achieving ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Certification System to provide a greater accountability and transparency in the regulatory operations of the cocoa sector.