Once considered an alien crop, cocoa has expanded its footprint in south India, especially Andhra Pradesh, with its quality comparable to the best in the world.
The recent launch of Mondelez India (formerly Cadbury’s) plant in Sri City of Chittoor district promises to enhance local procurement and take cocoa production to a higher plane.
It was way back in 1965 that Mondelez India brought cocoa as an inter-crop to Wayanad in Kerala. The initiative that put India on the cocoa world map was taken to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The coconut farmers of West Godavari were the first to accept cocoa as an inter-crop in 1992, but its presence has spread from Krishna to Srikakulam today. Now the company is promoting its cultivation by adding 5,000 farms every year under its ‘Cocoa Life’ programme.
It has also partnered with agricultural universities of Tamil Nadu and Kerala for specialised research on improving yield as well as developing new varieties.
At the farm level, the company provides training to farmers, extends technical support in growing cocoa as inter-crop with coconut, arecanut etc. and also arranges buyback.
To rescue of farmers
According to P. Sankara Rao, a farmer of Bapirajugudem in Pedavegi mandal of West Godavari district, cocoa came to their rescue when income from the coconut plantations started dipping in 2000. Similarly, Edupuganti Venkatasubba Rao of Gangannagudem in Denduluru sees a promising future for cocoa, thanks to the irrigation facilities and the right soil with almost neutral pH.
From being a net importer of cocoa, over one-third of the company’s requirements are met locally today. “We have reached out to one lakh farmers in the southern states. Our training and extension programmes have helped improve their skills in cocoa farming, which indirectly led to their financial independence and better living standards”, says K.P. Magudapathy, Senior Manager (Cocoa Operations), Mondelez India. Cocoa is considered women-friendly as the less-rigorous post-harvest activities can be done easily in the backyard.
