2. Cocoa Production Stages and Plant Development

Theobroma Cacao is a C3-plant like the vast majority of plants.
 It is classified as a perennial tree crop that can grow up to 8-12 metres. Cocoa trees prefer a humid and hot climate. That is the reason why they grow best in countries near the equator. In fact, the region between 0 and 20 degrees south and north of the equator is also referred to as the "Cocoa Belt".
Cocoa likes to be grown along with other tropical forest plants. This means it is not a typical plant that is cultivated in monocultures, but rather in biologically diverse environments.

Stages of Crop Development:

Figure 1

Cocoa trees are planted by either sowing the seeds that have been extracted from the pods or by planting grafted plants.
10-18 months after planting, the stem of the Cocoa tree grows up to a height of about 1-1,5 metres. Then it curls into a whorl of 3-4 horizontal branches and one or more vertical shoots, also referred to as suckers. The suckers initiated the next phase in growth of the plant.
Flowers grow between 18 months and three years after planting, depending on the variety. The flowers grow at the bottom of the tree or on thick branches throughout the whole year. However, flowering increases druing the rainy season which lasts from the beginning of April and reaches its peak in July. One tree can have up to 50 000-100 000 flowers every year, but only 6% of the growers are naturally pollinated. That means that often, gowers have to assist this process manually. If pollination was successful, the pods start to develop and take up to 6 months to mature. Fruit production starts April and is highest in August.What is unusual about the cocoa plant is that it can have flowers and fruits at the same time at different stages of maturity.

Figure 2

A tree bears around 20-30 pods annually.  The color of the cocoa pods indicates the stage of maturity. It either changes from green to yellow in the case of a Forastero plant or from yellow to red in the case of Criollo plants.







Is flowering affected by photoperiod?

Daylength in tropical regions where cocoa is mostly grown is about the same throught the year. This and the fact that flowering increases during the rainy season, indicates that the flower production of the cocoa plant is dependend on the stimulus of water rather than the photoperiod. (= the period of time each day during which an organism receives illumination; day length)

References

Adjaloo, M. K., Oduro, W., & Banful, B. (2012). Floral Phenology of Upper Amazon Cocoa Trees: Implications for Reproduction and Productivity of Cocoa. Retrieved 09 2018, from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/461674/

Pohlan, H. A., & Perez , V. D. (n.d.). GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF CACAO. Retrieved 09 2018

Ritter Sport. (2018). Ritter Sport GmbH. Retrieved 09 2018, from The Cocoa Tree: https://www.ritter-sport.de/en/cultivation_preparation/Cultivation-preparation-The-cacao-tree-RITTER-SPORT/

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. (2013). Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.). Retrieved 09 2018, from TNAU Agritech Portal: http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/horticulture/horti_plantation%20crops_cocoa.html

 Pictures:

Figure 1: https://onthecocoatrail.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/s1500037.jpg

Figure 2: https://www.edenproject.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_carousel_full/public/image-carousel/theobroma-cacao-trunk-2.jpg?itok=3-vhslDI&c=ab024485c7c9b3493b62ace8588e266c

1. Cocoa: Plant Anatomy and Morphology

Plant Classification: 

Cocoa, lat. Theobroma Cacao, belongs to the Sterculiaceae family. This family is part of the order Malvales which classify as Dicotelydons. They are flowering plants, Magnoliophyta. Cocoa plants can be subdivided into three main groups: Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario which is a hybrid between the first two groups. In the Ivory Coast, Forastero is the moct cultivated group of cocoa.

Plant Anatomy: 

As already mentioned, the cocoa plant is a dicotelydon. "Dicots" are plants that have seeds with two seed leaves, instead of only one like Monocotelydons. The make-up of the seed determines certain characteristics of the final plant. 
When looking at the picture of the entire cocoa tree, a few distinctive characteristics of a dicot plant can be seen. 

Figure 1

  
Roots: Dicot plants have a taproot system. That means that they have one main root from which smaller roots branch off.  

Figure 2

Leaves: Unlike the straight linear leaf veins of a monocot plant, a dicot plant shows network.like leaf veins. The cocoa leaves are dark green with clearly visible network-shaped veins. 

Flowers: Typical dicot flowers have 4-5 flower petals. As you can see on the picture on the right, the cocoa  flower has 5 petals. The flowers are usually white and yellow and are classified as complete flowers. Complete flowers have four distinctive organs: stamen (male part) and pistils (female part), petals (flower leaves) and sepals (leaves underneath flower leaves).

Figure 3

 
Fruits: The fruits of the cocoa tree are called "pods". Depending on the variety, they have different colors. The pods contain about 30 to 40 seeds or cocoa beans. These seeds have, as already mentioned, two seed leaves or cotelydons.

Figure 4

Origin and production of Cocoa: 

Cocoa plants are perennial tree crops that originate from Central and South America. However, two thirds of worldwide cocoa production take place in West Africa. The reson for that iis, that Spanish and British colonists exported the cocoa plant and brought it to their colonies in Africa. The tropical climate conditions there are perfect for the cultivation of cocoa. With approximately 1,5 million tons produced annually, the Ivory Coast ranks first in the worldwide cocoa production. Most of the cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast are classified as smallholder farmers with a production area of 3 hecatres maximum.

Figure 5

  

 

 

 

Cultivation of Cocoa:

The cocoa plant is a shade-loving plant. It likes to be grown along with other tropical plants and trees that give shade. Therefore, it is usually cultivated as a mixed crop or inter crop next to other species. Mostly, the cultivation is rainfed.
Pruning is alo very important when cultivating cocoa. The branches grow into different directions and by pruning, the growth and shape of the plants can be influenced and optimized. It also ensures that the flowers and fruits of the trees receive adequate amounts of light.

Figure 6

 

 

References

CACAO.IC. (n.d.). CHALLENGES OF THE COCOA ECONOMY IN COTE D'IVOIRE . Retrieved 09 2018, from http://www.cacao.gouv.ci/index.php?rubrique=1.1.6&langue=en

FAOSTAT. (2018). Food and Agricultural Organization. Retrieved 09 2018, from http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC

Seheran, S. (2018). Lecture: Plant Anatomy and Morphology. 's-Hertogenbosch. Retrieved 09 2018

USDA. (n.d.). Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Genus Theobroma L. Retrieved 09 2018, from https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=THEOB)

Worldagroforestry. (n.d.). An Overview of Cocoa Production in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Retrieved 09 2018, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiByPad7q3dAhUKPFAKHRBODNQQFjAKegQIAhAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldagroforestry.org%2Ftreesandmarkets%2Finaforesta%2Fdocuments%2FCocoa_production_in_Cote_divoire.doc&

pictures:

Figure 1: https://d2gg9evh47fn9z.cloudfront.net/800px_COLOURBOX4204184.jpg

Figure 2: http://www.beanstobars.sg/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cacao-cocoa-coca-cocoa-pods-beans-1200x680.jpg

Figure 3: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/17/a0/75/17a075dcd45b0e1e783c375f2c2284c3.jpg

Figure 4: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/illustration-showing-parts-cocoa-plant-green-background-beautiful-109096653.jpg
Figure 5: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treesandmarkets/inaforesta/images/history_map2.jpg 
Figure 6: https://www.knowfarming.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cocoa-cultivation.jpg