Cocoa producing countries should keep a database logging the condition and age of trees in order to plan their output, a German farm ministry official said on Tuesday.
"It is necessary that producing countries undertake to establish cocoa resource inventories of their countries," said Hagen Streichert of the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture.
"It appears that there is only little information about the age distribution of cocoa trees and other relevant data, which are necessary to assess the potential of further production," he told an international chocolate and confectionery conference.
Streichert, who is also spokesman for consuming countries of the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), said such information was paramount to form national production plans.
The priority was to maintain a balance between supply and demand, Streichert said.