Dear All,
COCOA THE FOOD OF THE GODS
Theobroma cacao also cacao tree and cocoa tree, is a small (4–8 m or 15–26 ft tall) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to the deep tropical region of the Americas.
DESCRIPTION
The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; they are small, 1–2 cm (1/2–1 in) diameter, with pink calyx. While many of the world's flowers are pollinated by bees (Hymenoptera) or butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera), cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, Forcipomyia midges in the order Diptera. The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighs about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, usually called "beans", embedded in a white pulp. The seeds are the main ingredient of chocolate, while the pulp is used in some countries to prepare a refreshing juice. Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40–50%) as cocoa butter. Their most noted active constituent is theobromine, a compound similar to caffeine.
The cupuaçu, Theobroma grandiflorum, is a closely related species, rather widely grown in Brazil, from which is produced a chocolate called cupulate in Brazil, or more generally Cupuaçu Chocolate and is considered of high potential by the food industry as well as by the cosmetics industry.
TAXONOMY AND NOMENCLATURE
The scientific name Theobroma from Greek θεοβρῶμα means "food of the gods". The word cacao itself derives from the name of cacao in one of the indigenous Mesoamerican languages (note Tzeltal, K’iche’ and Classic Maya kakaw, Sayula Popoluca kagaw, Nahuatl cacahuatl), learned at the time of the conquest when it was first encountered by the Spanish.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
There are two prominent competing hypotheses about the origins of the domestication of the originally wild Theobroma cacao tree. One is that wild examples were originally distributed from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon basin, with domestication taking place both in the Lacandon area of Mexico and in lowland South America. But recent studies of Theobroma cacao genetics seem to show that the plant originated in the Amazon and was distributed by humans throughout Central America and Mesoamerica.
The tree is today found only growing wild in the low foothills of the Andes at elevations of around 200–400 m (650–1300 ft) in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It requires a humid climate with regular rainfall and good soil. It is an understory tree, growing best with some overhead shade.
CULTIVATION
Cacao is cultivated on roughly 17,000,000 acres (27,000 sq mi; 69,000 km2) worldwide.[9] According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the top 20 cacao-producing countries in 2005 were: India is in 17th rank of production by producing about 8000 metric tons of cocoa. Ivory Costa a small country in Africa is No1 in producing 1,330,000 tonnes. This country situated in Aprica more or less equals to size & climate conditions of Karnataka State in India. However, check the production of Cocoa? If a Small country can dominate Cocoa production, then if we think we can break its record and benefit ourselves in other terms.
Check the rate of 5 star chocolate? You can reduce its cost from Rs.10 to 5 within 4 years from now if you want. Will you?
Cacao production has increased from 1.5 million tons in 1983-1984 to 3.5 million tons in 2003-2004, an increase that has almost entirely been due to the expansion of the production area rather than to yield increases. Cacao is grown both by large agro-industrial plantations and by small producers.
A tree begins to bear when it is four or five years old. A mature tree may have 6,000 flowers in a year, yet only about 20 pods. About 300-600 seeds (10 pods) are required to produce 1 kg (2.2 lb) of cocoa paste.
However, some farmers plant cocoa under shade trees, increasing the life span of the cocoa trees. Insect predators living in the mixed species plantations reduce pest damage.
CORPORATE CULTIVATION & VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS
There are three main cultivar groups of cacao beans used to make cocoa and chocolate. The most prized, rare, and expensive is the Criollo Group, the cocoa bean used by the Maya. Only 10% of chocolate is made from Criollo, which is less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. The cacao bean in 80% of chocolate is made using beans of the Forastero Group. Forastero trees are significantly hardier than Criollo trees, resulting in cheaper cacao beans. Trinitario, a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, is used in about 10% of chocolate.
Major Cocoa bean processors include Hershey's, Nestlé and Mars, all of which purchase cocoa beans via various sources. Cadbury/ Campco is major purchaser in Karnataka along with entire India
COCOA IN NEWS
A chocolate shortage is probably the last thing you want to hear about today. Valentine's Day. And a big story in this month's Scientific American explains that a chocolate shortage may be in store, whether we want to face it or not.
The cocoa bean supply faces a variety of threats. Some of the problems they mention are endemic to all agricultural commodities. Demand keeps growing and climate change threatens to undercut supply potential in a serious way. It's the same story, that is, that's being told in industries as close to home as corn and cattle.
The most serious threats, though, come in the form of two diseases that have been sweeping through Latin America killing groves of cocoa trees. They haven't yet spread to West Africa, where the majority of the world's cocoa is produced. But if they do, before scientists can develop breeds of cocoa tree resistant to disease, the effect on the chocolate industry could be devastating. To some extent, this too is a familiar story. Banana experts have been working for years to find solutions to what is becoming a global epidemic of tree-killing blight. And the twin catastrophes of the Irish potato famine and the Great French Wine Blight of the 19th Century lurk in the grim recesses of agricultural history. But the fact that we've seen blight before should not make us any less concerned today at least those of us who like to have affordable chocolate available every Valentine's Day.
Chocoholics, you might want to stock up on those Quality Street and selection boxes while you can because insiders are predicting a world chocolate shortage could be on the cards.
Although cocoa trade prices are currently at their lowest level in three years as a result of a bumper crop and a slowdown in consumption in Europe, industry experts are predicting a one-million-ton shortage of cocoa within eight years, fuelled by a growing taste for cocoa in China.
This could see the price of chocolate soar as manufacturers are forced to increase the use of nuts and other expensive ingredients to add bulk to their bars.
An area the size of the Ivory Coast would need to be cultivated to satisfy the demand. Experts are warning that farmers need more training to help increase their cocoa bean crops to prevent prices soaring.If that wasn’t excuse enough to go out and start stockpiling the sweet stuff, find out more about the health benefits of chocolate below and enjoy some guilt-free indulgence.
Sources- Wehipedia & Scientific American.
Chocolate was once the drink of Mayan and Aztec kings. Now a cocoa shortage may make chocolate an exclusive luxury again.
Chocolate could become as rare as caviar, said John Mason of the Ghana-based Nature Conservation Research Council. Which means chocolate treats may become unaffordable for the average person. The price of cocoa, the raw ingredient for chocolate, has been skyrocketing in international markets. Demand for chocolate, especially for dark chocolate which uses more cocoa, has helped fuel price increases.
But offering fair prices to farmers may avert the chocolate shortage. In Ghana, workers' cooperatives receive fair trade prices for the cocoa they produce. The farmers are staying on the land and keeping up production, said Sophi Tranchell, managing director of Ghanaian chocolate manufacturer, Divine Chocolate, in the UK Independent. A cooperative of 45,000 cocoa farmers owns 45 percent of Divine Chocolate.
Cocoa trees are originally from the rainforests of the Americas. They naturally live for up to a century in the shady understory of biodiverse forests.But modern cultivation techniques clear the forest and plant only cocoa trees in full sun. Under these conditions the trees live only 30 years or less. The land quickly loses its fertility. The trees die, and the farmers must cut down new patches of forest. Solutions exist to stop the chocolate shortage. However, it will require candy makers to share more of their profits with cocoa farmers. Moreover, many farmers will have to change the way they grow cocoa. Or else chocolate may become the food of kings yet again.
BENEFITS OF CULTIVATION COCOA
Soil fertility- Most of brother farmers in costal Karnataka are growing Cocoa for mulching of soil through its leaves providing shade when they are in plant and become manure in soil after falling down. Commercial Income from beans is by selling Seeds @ about rupees 45 now. Tasty & rich taste Cocoa Milk. Increase Milk Yield- Less than one-month-old buds & de seeded bean cover are green fodder for Buffalo, Cows, donkeys, Goats & Sheep. Inter crop in Areca nut, Coconut and other plantations.
Question?
If a plant can do these much, then what best you can do Human being.
Regards,
SWAMY
COCOA THE FOOD OF THE GODS
Theobroma cacao also cacao tree and cocoa tree, is a small (4–8 m or 15–26 ft tall) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to the deep tropical region of the Americas.
DESCRIPTION
The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; they are small, 1–2 cm (1/2–1 in) diameter, with pink calyx. While many of the world's flowers are pollinated by bees (Hymenoptera) or butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera), cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, Forcipomyia midges in the order Diptera. The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighs about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, usually called "beans", embedded in a white pulp. The seeds are the main ingredient of chocolate, while the pulp is used in some countries to prepare a refreshing juice. Each seed contains a significant amount of fat (40–50%) as cocoa butter. Their most noted active constituent is theobromine, a compound similar to caffeine.
The cupuaçu, Theobroma grandiflorum, is a closely related species, rather widely grown in Brazil, from which is produced a chocolate called cupulate in Brazil, or more generally Cupuaçu Chocolate and is considered of high potential by the food industry as well as by the cosmetics industry.
TAXONOMY AND NOMENCLATURE
The scientific name Theobroma from Greek θεοβρῶμα means "food of the gods". The word cacao itself derives from the name of cacao in one of the indigenous Mesoamerican languages (note Tzeltal, K’iche’ and Classic Maya kakaw, Sayula Popoluca kagaw, Nahuatl cacahuatl), learned at the time of the conquest when it was first encountered by the Spanish.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
There are two prominent competing hypotheses about the origins of the domestication of the originally wild Theobroma cacao tree. One is that wild examples were originally distributed from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon basin, with domestication taking place both in the Lacandon area of Mexico and in lowland South America. But recent studies of Theobroma cacao genetics seem to show that the plant originated in the Amazon and was distributed by humans throughout Central America and Mesoamerica.
The tree is today found only growing wild in the low foothills of the Andes at elevations of around 200–400 m (650–1300 ft) in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It requires a humid climate with regular rainfall and good soil. It is an understory tree, growing best with some overhead shade.
CULTIVATION
Cacao is cultivated on roughly 17,000,000 acres (27,000 sq mi; 69,000 km2) worldwide.[9] According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the top 20 cacao-producing countries in 2005 were: India is in 17th rank of production by producing about 8000 metric tons of cocoa. Ivory Costa a small country in Africa is No1 in producing 1,330,000 tonnes. This country situated in Aprica more or less equals to size & climate conditions of Karnataka State in India. However, check the production of Cocoa? If a Small country can dominate Cocoa production, then if we think we can break its record and benefit ourselves in other terms.
Check the rate of 5 star chocolate? You can reduce its cost from Rs.10 to 5 within 4 years from now if you want. Will you?
Cacao production has increased from 1.5 million tons in 1983-1984 to 3.5 million tons in 2003-2004, an increase that has almost entirely been due to the expansion of the production area rather than to yield increases. Cacao is grown both by large agro-industrial plantations and by small producers.
A tree begins to bear when it is four or five years old. A mature tree may have 6,000 flowers in a year, yet only about 20 pods. About 300-600 seeds (10 pods) are required to produce 1 kg (2.2 lb) of cocoa paste.
However, some farmers plant cocoa under shade trees, increasing the life span of the cocoa trees. Insect predators living in the mixed species plantations reduce pest damage.
CORPORATE CULTIVATION & VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS
There are three main cultivar groups of cacao beans used to make cocoa and chocolate. The most prized, rare, and expensive is the Criollo Group, the cocoa bean used by the Maya. Only 10% of chocolate is made from Criollo, which is less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. The cacao bean in 80% of chocolate is made using beans of the Forastero Group. Forastero trees are significantly hardier than Criollo trees, resulting in cheaper cacao beans. Trinitario, a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, is used in about 10% of chocolate.
Major Cocoa bean processors include Hershey's, Nestlé and Mars, all of which purchase cocoa beans via various sources. Cadbury/ Campco is major purchaser in Karnataka along with entire India
COCOA IN NEWS
A chocolate shortage is probably the last thing you want to hear about today. Valentine's Day. And a big story in this month's Scientific American explains that a chocolate shortage may be in store, whether we want to face it or not.
The cocoa bean supply faces a variety of threats. Some of the problems they mention are endemic to all agricultural commodities. Demand keeps growing and climate change threatens to undercut supply potential in a serious way. It's the same story, that is, that's being told in industries as close to home as corn and cattle.
The most serious threats, though, come in the form of two diseases that have been sweeping through Latin America killing groves of cocoa trees. They haven't yet spread to West Africa, where the majority of the world's cocoa is produced. But if they do, before scientists can develop breeds of cocoa tree resistant to disease, the effect on the chocolate industry could be devastating. To some extent, this too is a familiar story. Banana experts have been working for years to find solutions to what is becoming a global epidemic of tree-killing blight. And the twin catastrophes of the Irish potato famine and the Great French Wine Blight of the 19th Century lurk in the grim recesses of agricultural history. But the fact that we've seen blight before should not make us any less concerned today at least those of us who like to have affordable chocolate available every Valentine's Day.
Chocoholics, you might want to stock up on those Quality Street and selection boxes while you can because insiders are predicting a world chocolate shortage could be on the cards.
Although cocoa trade prices are currently at their lowest level in three years as a result of a bumper crop and a slowdown in consumption in Europe, industry experts are predicting a one-million-ton shortage of cocoa within eight years, fuelled by a growing taste for cocoa in China.
This could see the price of chocolate soar as manufacturers are forced to increase the use of nuts and other expensive ingredients to add bulk to their bars.
An area the size of the Ivory Coast would need to be cultivated to satisfy the demand. Experts are warning that farmers need more training to help increase their cocoa bean crops to prevent prices soaring.If that wasn’t excuse enough to go out and start stockpiling the sweet stuff, find out more about the health benefits of chocolate below and enjoy some guilt-free indulgence.
Sources- Wehipedia & Scientific American.
Chocolate was once the drink of Mayan and Aztec kings. Now a cocoa shortage may make chocolate an exclusive luxury again.
Chocolate could become as rare as caviar, said John Mason of the Ghana-based Nature Conservation Research Council. Which means chocolate treats may become unaffordable for the average person. The price of cocoa, the raw ingredient for chocolate, has been skyrocketing in international markets. Demand for chocolate, especially for dark chocolate which uses more cocoa, has helped fuel price increases.
But offering fair prices to farmers may avert the chocolate shortage. In Ghana, workers' cooperatives receive fair trade prices for the cocoa they produce. The farmers are staying on the land and keeping up production, said Sophi Tranchell, managing director of Ghanaian chocolate manufacturer, Divine Chocolate, in the UK Independent. A cooperative of 45,000 cocoa farmers owns 45 percent of Divine Chocolate.
Cocoa trees are originally from the rainforests of the Americas. They naturally live for up to a century in the shady understory of biodiverse forests.But modern cultivation techniques clear the forest and plant only cocoa trees in full sun. Under these conditions the trees live only 30 years or less. The land quickly loses its fertility. The trees die, and the farmers must cut down new patches of forest. Solutions exist to stop the chocolate shortage. However, it will require candy makers to share more of their profits with cocoa farmers. Moreover, many farmers will have to change the way they grow cocoa. Or else chocolate may become the food of kings yet again.
BENEFITS OF CULTIVATION COCOA
Soil fertility- Most of brother farmers in costal Karnataka are growing Cocoa for mulching of soil through its leaves providing shade when they are in plant and become manure in soil after falling down. Commercial Income from beans is by selling Seeds @ about rupees 45 now. Tasty & rich taste Cocoa Milk. Increase Milk Yield- Less than one-month-old buds & de seeded bean cover are green fodder for Buffalo, Cows, donkeys, Goats & Sheep. Inter crop in Areca nut, Coconut and other plantations.
Question?
If a plant can do these much, then what best you can do Human being.
Regards,
SWAMY
