Cocoa producers from different regions of the country are seeking training to increase productivity using the technology developed by the Executive Committee of the Cocoa Cultivation Plan (CEPLAC). The objective of cocoa producers is to achieve the production of 500 arrobas of cocoa per hectare.
The method establishes the Program 500 @ – High Productivity Cocoa Technology, developed based on technologies generated by the CEPEC Cocoa Research Center and led to the cocoa producer by technicians from the CEPLAC CENEX Extension Center. The technology transfer methodology is carried out through the formation of groups of producers in the municipalities of the south of Bahía, who practice the enseñanzas on their farms and gradually increase their cocoa production.
The results obtained in the project were presented at the High Productivity Cocoa Technology seminar, held last month (20), at the Cacao Research Center (CEPEC) at the regional headquarters of CEPLAC in Bahía. Participation in the event exceeded the expectations of the organizers. Initially planned for 300 participants, the event registered 764 cocoa producers from 36 municipalities in the cocoa region of Bahía, as well as participants in caravans from other states, such as Pará and Espírito Santo.
The conferences presented were divided into four main themes: new technological knowledge for high-productivity hunting, collective technical assistance, applied technology for high-productivity hunting and the protagonism of the rural producer. At the event, four producers who participated in the Cacau 500 program presented the results obtained and the evolution of productivity.
Results
Producer Marcos Melo, from Fazenda Rio Doce, in the municipality of Canavieiras, is one of the participants who was able to significantly increase productivity. During the seminar, I showed how we surpassed the mark of 500 arroba cacao per hectare, driven by CEPLAC. Producer José Carlos Maltez, from Fazenda Limoeiro, also a participant in the CEPLAC high productivity program, showed production data of more than 200 arrobas per hectare obtained from the Cabruca system, cocoa planted near the forest, with preservation of water sources, fauna y flora. .
The farmers Paulo Gleig and the young cocoa farmer Tiago Machado, who broke the barrier of 200 cocoa per hectarea and continued to advance to 500 arrobas per hectarea, also presented data on the increase in productivity on their farms.
One of the conferences that attracted a lot of attention from the participants was about new cocoa pollination technologies, especially pollination by an efficient blowing machine, adapted by CEPLAC researcher Kazuiyuki Nakayama to replace manual pollination work.
In discussions, other producers expressed interest in participating in the Cocoa 500 @ program. The public, mostly young men and women, children and children of producers, also expressed interest in joining the cocoa production activity, with the desire to seek out CEPLAC to carry out its cultivation projects, to participate in the cocoa production program. secondary school. productivity and guarantee the follow-up of technical assistance and rural extension of the Ministry of Agriculture body.
Another concern revealed by producers was the safety of their investments in cocoa cultivation in relation to the threat of the entry of moniliasis disease in Brazil, with a high destructive power of cultivation, and what is being done in a preventive manner y of genetic defense.
CEPLAC technicians reported that the institution has been studying the production of resistant clones for more than five years, collaborating with countries investigating the disease and that preventive work is carried out by MAPA and the governments of the states where cocoa is cultivated.Agreements are being reached with research institutions in Ecuador and Peru to test selected Brazilian materials for resistance to diseases in areas infested with moniliasis in these countries.
The organizers of the event were delighted with the response given to the event by the producers, they will distribute videos with the content of the conferences and will program new seminars with themes that interest and satisfy the needs of cocoa producers.
Source: agrolink
