Indonesia sees cocoa output up as it fights pests

Indonesia expects to increase cocoa production to 420,000 tonnes in 2004, compared to 386,000 tonnes last year, as it battles a pod borer infestation, a cocoa association official said on Wednesday.
Indonesia is the world's third-largest producer of cocoa.
"We expect output to be better this year at 420,000 tonnes because everyone will be taking part to control pod borer," Halim Razak, chairman of the South Sulawesi branch of the Indonesian Cocoa Association, told Reuters by telephone from the provincial capital of Makassar.
But Razak said the country must take more measures to stamp out the pests.
"We are thankful that the government had recently included cocoa in the national agenda. Currently, together, we're trying to formulate a national movement to decrease pod borer attacks," said Razak.
A plague of pod borer has hit production in the key growing belt on Sulawesi island, causing low yields and poor bean quality. Pod borer are worm-like creatures that enter cocoa beans to feed.
"The pests can cut 60 percent off of productivity if not contained properly," Razak said.
He said cocoa output has been stagnant at about 400,000 tonnes in recent years and pod borer control should be the country's focus to help growers increase yields to up to 2.5 tonnes per hectare, from current averages of between 0.6 to 0.7 tonnes per hectare.
"Cocoa exports are a major foreign exchange earner and the government should lend a hand in fighting the battle," Razak said. He said cocoa exports stood at $259 million last year.
Indonesia exports around 80 percent of its total cocoa output, mainly to the United States. Last year's main crop was hit by a dry spell and pests, cutting exports by 25 percent compared with the previous year, according to association data.
Razak said Indonesia had the potential to produce more cocoa if it could control pod borer.
He said the Cocoa Village Model, a new five-year project aimed at training small-holders in combating pod borer, should help. The project was introduced in one village early last year, and officials hope to launch it nation-wide in the future. Meanwhile, traders said most of the cocoa trees had produced cheeries and harvesting should be possible in May in Sulawesi, which accounts for 75 percent of the country's output.
Prices of Sulawesi beans collected from farmers and middlemen were offered lower at between 11,500 to 11,700 rupiah ($1.35 to $1.38) a kg on Wednesday, dragged down by a drop on the New York market and tight supplies.