West Godavari cocoa farmers reaping sweet dividends 

VIJAYAWADA: West Godavari district is slowly becoming a cocoa growing hub with more and more farmers showing interest in cultivating the exotic crop. Cocoa plantations in the district are major suppliers of coca to Mondelez India, which produces the famous Cadbury chocolates.  The horticulture department is actively encouraging the farmers to cultivate the crop given its potential and demand for coco products in the market. 

Horticulture Commissioner Chiranjiv Chowdhary says that days are not far when West Godavari district, East Godavari, for that matter Andhra Pradesh have its own brand of chocolates and other cocoa products. “Already one unit has been established in Raulapalem of East Godavari district for processing of cocoa beans and one youth at Amalapuram is making homemade chocolates in a small scale,” he said. In less than two-and-a-half decades, since cocoa was introduced as an intercrop in coconut groves, West Godavari district has become the largest producer of cocoa in the State. 

In fact, Andhra Pradesh is the largest grower of cocoa in the country, and along with Kerala, it contributes 75 per cent of the total production of cocoa beans. According to Chiranjiv Chowdhary, who gave a detailed presentation on the statues of cocoa cultivation in the State during a stakeholders’ meet on cocoa organised in Vijayawada on Saturday, said at present, the State has 28,375 hectares of area under cocoa cultivation with an annual production of 8,155 metric tonnes. Every year, the area of cocoa cultivation is increasing by 5,000 hectares on an average and the quality of cocoa beans produced in Andhra Pradesh is compared to the world’s best quality beans produced in  Ghana. 

Chowdhary said owing to the favourable agro-climatic conditions in coastal districts, scope for cultivating cocoa in the state is more and being an intercrop cultivated in coconut groves and oil-palm farms, it is fetching Rs 75,000 per hectare as an additional income. A senior horticulture official said the focus is on extending market support to the farmers.  “We are also encouraging youth to make homemade chocolate as a cottage industry, just like in Ooty, and will be providing training,” he said. 

M Srimannarayana Raju of Velagaduru village of Undrajavaram mandal  in West Godavari district, one of the pioneers in cocoa plantation in the State, says cocoa is an income guarantee crop. “As soon as we harvest the beans between January to May, Cadbury company is making immediate payment without any delay. Since I cultivated cocoa in my 10 acres of coconut grove as intercrop in 1996, there has been no turning back,” he said. Raju said he started getting income from the third year onwards and year after year, the yield has only increased.Now, Velgaduru can be described as a village of cocoa growers and the number is only increasing in the neighbouring villages and mandals.