Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigerian cocoa farmers are being offered lower prices as mould induced by heavy rainfall has reduced the quality of the chocolate ingredients, according to Socodevi, a Canada-based organisation working on improving crops in Nigeria.
The private Guardian newspaper Wednesday quoted a representative of the Quebec-based organisation in Nigeria as saying that Farm gate prices in the Southern Nigeria Cross River belt dropped by 8% to 440,000 naira (US$2,714) a tonne, compared with 480,000 naira (US$2,900) at the end of July.
“High mould caused by heavy rains affected crop quality, leading to lower pricing of beans by exporters. The mould level is as high as 21 per cent, compared with three per cent that is internationally acceptable,” Neji Abang, country coordinator for Socodevi, was quoted as saying.
The Cross River region produces about 75,000 tonnes of cocoa yearly, out of a national output of 300,000 tonnes.
Currently, Socodevi and the country’s coordinator are involved in the training of farmers in the country on how to raise output, bean quality and fight the disease.
As a way out of the problem, Abang said, “We are asking farmers to reduce unwanted branches to enable sunlight to penetrate their farms for the main crop harvest”.
Spokesman for the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria also said the main crop harvest in the southern Edo state, another cocoa producing area, which account for 15% of the nation’s output, has been slowed by mould of up to 30%, due to heavy rains.
The rainy season, which runs from May to October in the area, has brought heavy precipitation this month.
Similarly, in the South-West Ondo State that accounts for 40% of Nigeria’s total cocoa output, mould levels are up to 20%.
Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria are the world’s top cocoa producing nations.
