South Pacific
pp. 59-63 · Read in the full issue
Cocoa Production In The
War Gives New Guinea Industry a Good Start
UNDER war-time conditions, Pacific planters, to an increasing degree are turning towards the cultivation of cocoa, to help balance their budgets. At present, the principal producing terri tories in the South Pacific are Western Samoa, the New Hebrides, and to a lesser extent. New Guinea and Papua.
Samoa has been exporting considerable quantities of a fine quality cocoa for many years—the bulk of it going to Aus tralia and Great Britain. In 1939, the Territory produced only 650 tons, but this abnormal figure was due to unfavourable weather and the 1940 crop is expected to exceed 2,000 tons.
Cultivation in New Hebrides is carried on mainly by French planters and, in 1938, the Condominium exported more than 1,800 tons to France.
New Guinea and Papua are compara tive newcomers to the field—although cocoa-growing was first introduced to New Guinea from Samoa by the Germans.
It languished: but attempts to revive it were made by the Mandated Territory’s Department of Agriculture. While copra was at a profitable level, during post-war years, little attention was paid to cocoa.
More recently, however, planters, faced with a depressed copra market, have turned to cocoa with more interest; and production in New Guinea for 1940 is ex pected to be in the vicinity of 300 tons.
The Australian Government provides a bounty of £l4 per ton on cocoa and cocoa shells, imported into the Commonwealth from New Guinea. Cocoa-shells are used in the manufacture of certain drugs and also are in demand as cattle-fodder.
Cocoa made its appearance in Papua in 1925, when the Papuan Government imported 13 or 14 wardian cases of seed lings from the Mandated Territory, for cultivation on the Kemp-Welch Experi mental plantation. In 1939, Papua ex ported 26,718 lb. of cocoa beans to Aus tralia.
The cocoa produced by the two Terri tories is marketed in Australia; and pros pects waxed bright early in 1937, when New Guinea beans were selling in Sydney at £44 per ton. One shipment to London realised £63 (sterling) per ton. Planters received a set-back in the middle of 1937, when the strike of native growers in Accra, West Africa, which had kept the market on a high level, was settled, and accumulated stocks from this large pro ducer of cocoa were thrown onto the market, forcing the price down, until by June, 1937, New Guinea beans were £25 a ton in Australia. Then there was a gradual recovery, which was sharply ac centuated in 1939 by the outbreak of war.
The world-wide dislocation of shipping has correspondingly dislocated the West African cocoa industry. Australian con
fectionery manufacturers, therefore, may have difficulty in getting supplies from Accra. rjIHE bulk of cocoa from the Mandated JL Territory of New Guinea is bought now by Australian manufacturing confectioners; but planters have com plained frequently that they are not get ting a fair price. Manufacturers, for their part, say that the main trouble with New Guinea cocoa is its lack of uniform quality. They point out that rarely are two shipments the same, and they urge that a proper grading system be intro duced. A plan for Government inspection and grading of cocoa has been submitted to the Administrator (Sir W. R. McNicoll) under which the export of unfermented, mouldy, and insect-infested beans will be
prohibited.
One Sydney importer was asked, in mid-
April, about the quality of New Guinea cocoa. He replied that it was not as good as the Accra product, Mr. George H. Murray, Director of Agriculture in New Guinea, who is at present in Sydney, emphatically denied this. He has been in Trinidad, where one of the' best cocoas in the world is pro duced, and he says that New Guinea cocoa is comparable with this. Shipments of Mandated Territory cocoa to England have brought prices equal to the best Trinidad. He explained that Accra cocoa is mainly of the Forastero type, and is cured by natives with primitive methods.
“It is the cheapest in the world—and con sequently the worst!” he declared.
Some months ago a nlanter on New Britain, T.N.G., dissatisfied with the prices he was getting on the Australian market, and knowing he had a fine pro duct, sent a consignment of 10 tons to
London. He received £ASO a ton f.o.b.
Rabaul.
It will be seen, from the small per centage of New Guinea cocoa represented in the following list of Australia’s imports of cocoa-beans and shells, that there is little likelihood of the Territory “flood ing” the Australian market with its cocoa, for many years to come, unless cultivation expands to unprecedented proportions.
Australia’s imports of raw cocoa and shells for 1937-38 and 1938-39 were;—
The world crop for 1930 was placed at 510,000 tons: 1931, 529,000; 1932, 577,000; 1933, 577,000; 1934, 595,000. Consumption for 1934 was 583,000 tons and “Gordian” (a German cocoa magazine) said: “It al most seems that consumption is gradu ally reducing the volume of the crops”.
The following were the principal ex porting countries in 1929. Smaller quan tities have been omitted:— Tons Gold Coast 238,490 Brazil (1928) 71,230 Nigeria 55,248 Trinidad 27,540 French Colonies (1927) 25,170 Ecuador (1928) 22,600 Dominican Republic 21,150 San Thome & Principe (W. Africa) (1927) 16,500 Venezuela (1927) 15,160 Costa Rica (1928) 5,680 British Togoland (1928) 5,255 Grenada 4,550 Ceylon 4,134 Panama (1928) 3,090 Jamaica 3,032 British Cameroons 2,970 Haiti (1928) 2,350 Europe took 62.4 per cent, of the 1938 crop; U.S.A. 35 per cent.; Australia 1.7; Asia .5; and Africa .4.
THE cultivation of cocoa in New Guinea at present is limited to the rich volcanic soil at Witu, the Bainings and Talasea, New Britain; although young plantations are coming into bear ing on Kar Kar Island (Madang coast) and crops have been interplanted with coconut trees in many other parts of the Territory.
Cocoa requires a warm, humid climate, the main producing regions in the world ranging from 10 to 12 degrees north and south of the Equator, at an altitude of from 300 to 2,000 feet above sea level. The soil must be well-drained, of a rich and friable nature —preferably of volcanic origin—and supplied with vegetable humus.
A well distributed rainfall, from 60 to 120 inches a year; a mean annual shade temperature ranging from 69 to 89 degrees Fahrenheit; and a mean annual humidity from 78 to 85 degrees, are other factors which govern successful cultiva tion.
1937-8 1938-9 Country Value Value of origin. lbs. ( £) lbs. (£) United Kingdom . — 4,480 46 Br. E. Africa — — 492.800 4,759 Br. W. Africa 10.415,101 178,623 is.seo.osi 200,316 Ceylon .. 248,780 4,079 126,532 1,993 Papua . . . . —.— — 26,718 124 W. Samoa 96,409 2,355 17,834 285 New Guinea . 390.372 5,584 435,889 4,852 Br. W. Indies 279,146 6,581 369,924 5,089 Other Br.
Countries . 2,218 35 5,956 44 Fr. Africa — — 111,500 1,163 Brazil 586,763 7,188 116,917 1,063 Ecuador . .. 676,322 14,942 68,681 1,169 Panama . . 45,282 694 22,527 277
U.S.A
28,985 946 Venezuela 302,639 6,967 39,639 1,112 Other Foreign 7,929 185 2,315 24 13,079,946 228,179 20,702,633 222,316
Strong winds are particularly injur ious to cocoa trees. In New Guinea, provision is made against the south-east and north-west trades. To protect trees against excessive wind, and at the same time provide shade which is also essen tial, other crops are usually interplanted with cocoa. A leguminous tree, such as Leucaena glauca, is often recommended, but many planters make use of other economic plants, such as kapok, bananas and even rubber.
In recent years, copra planters in New Guinea with limited land and means have interplanted cocoa with coconut trees. This has been quite successful, but some experts predict that in several years—perhaps 15—the land will have to be fertilised.
Not being a particularly robust tree, cocoa is subject to a large number of pests, but these are well under control, in both New Guinea and Papua.
THERE are three kinds of cocoa— namely, Criollo, Forastero and Cal abacillo. The latter is rarely planted, and may be disregarded. The Criollo bean is large and round, and, when broken, re veals a whitish cross section. Fermented, cured and dried, it is a cinnamon colour; it is not astringent and has a pleasing aroma. Criollo is the more delicately flav oured and higher priced variety, but this former property precludes its extensive cultivation. It is found chiefly in Vene zuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and is also grown in Java, Ceylon Samoa and Mada gascar.
Forastero, owing to its superior vitality, stronger growth, greater productiveness, less demand for shade, and better re sistance to disease, is by far the more popular bean, and produces the mass of commercial cocoa. It is small, flat and purple in cross-section, and when cured and dried is dark walnut in colour; it is slightly astringent and has little aroma.
Forastero is grown on the Gold Coast of Africa, where more than half the world’s supply is produced.
A hybrid, or cross, between Criollo and Forastero gives a bean with a heavy yield and a good flavour. This is the type which is being cultivated in New Guinea to-day, and it forms the main crops of Ceylon, Java and the West Indies. It has been found that, in the crossing, Criollo is little affected, while it improves Forastero.
Planters in New Guinea can obtain selected third-generation seedlings from the Department of Agriculture’s demon stration plantation at Keravat, near Rabaul, but, rather than transplant seedlings—which are liable to be damaged
—it is considered safer to plant fresh seeds, about 1 inch below the surface of the soil, They germinate in a few days.
The trees are generally planted, in New Guinea, about 15 feet apart, and grow to a height of between 15 and 25 feet.
Cocoa trees commence to bear about the 4th or sth year, but are at their best in the 10th or 12th year. The life of a tree, in full bearing, is about 40 years.
WHEN the pods have changed to a yellow, or reddish yellow colour, they are collected at frequent intervals, and taken to the fermentor. The pod is split open with a knife, and the beans, about i inch long, are put into ferment ing boxes (usually 15 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and 3 ft. deep; and divided into 3 com partments of 5 ft.).
The object of fermenting is to remove the slimy, whitish pulp which lines the pod and covers the seeds. It has been found, however, that fermenting also develops the flavour of the bean. During fermentation, the beans are turned, at frequent intervals, with a wooden shovel.
Porastero takes from 7 to 8 days to ferment, and Criollo 2 to 3. Good fer mentation is shown in a reduction of the astringent and bitter taste, uniform change of colour, development of aroma, and, later, after drying, a fine “break”.
Bad fermentation, caused through a lack of heat in the mass, is characterised by no uniform change in colour, mildew, a bad colour, when dried there is an ex cessive adherence of mucilage on the bean, it has a cheesy “break”, lack of aroma, and is astringent.
After fermentation, the beans are taken out to dry. Hi Ceylon, they are washed, and, in other countries polished, before the drying process, which is carried out on large wooden platforms, covered by movable, galvanised-ifon roofs. The beans are thinly spread over the surface, in the sun’s rays, and are turned with wooden rakes every few hours, to ensure uniform drying.
In some countries, where excessive rainfall prevents sun drying, artificial methods are used. The beans are placed in a drying room supplied with hot-air pipes.
It may be thought, from this, that cocoa beans could be dried with copra.
On this subject Mr. E. C. D. Green, of the Department of Agriculture in New Guinea, says it is inadvisable, because the cocoa absorbs copra odour; the period of drying copra is generally much faster than cocoa; the beans should not come into contact with metal during any stage of drying (metal is mostly used for copra trays); and the type of copra drier in New Guinea would not permit the constant turning required by cocoa. After drying the beans are bagged and sent as quickly as possible to their destination.
Some time ago, the Council of Inter national Office of Manufacturers of Cacao and Chocolate defined the bean required by the trade. It should be plump and well filled; should crumble when pressed with the fingers; have an open texture; be quite dry; and the inside light mahogany to brown in colour.
ON the question of labour for cocoa pro duction, one expert pointed out that,
while the Trinidad native labourer had a distinct advantage over the majority of New Guinea natives, the latter responds readily to tuition and, under the pre sent indenture system, could be taught various estate operations, such as prun ing and picking; and, after training, could possibly surpass the skill of the West Indian.
Mr. Murray (Director of Agriculture in New Guinea; says the most important factor about picking cocoa is to be able to distinguish when the pod is ripe. He says there is no reason why natives should not be taught to grow cocoa in a small way—but, preferably, under Euro pean supervision.