Akim-Tafo (E/R), Oct. 17, GNA - Cartons of Cocoa wine, a by-product of cocoa beans, which was served at a launch held for participants of the 14th International Cocoa Research Conference at the Senior Staff Club House of the Tafo Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) on Thursday after a field tour were exhausted within a few minutes.

The Executive Director of CRIG, Dr. M. R. Appiah whose attention was drawn to the situation ordered the stores to be opened for any cocoa wine available to be served, but that also did not last as most of the delegates were more interested in the wine than any of the other alcoholic beverages produced from the cocoa by-products like the cocoa gin and cocoa brandy, which were also available.

The field tour took the participants to the Aburi Botanical Gardens where cocoa pods, beans and seedlings were sold to farmers in 1891, the Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm at Mampong-Akuapem, Opanin Philip M. Boakye's Cocoa Hi-tech Farm at Osiem and CRIG.

In an interview with Dr Appiah on the commercialisation of the Cocoa wine and other cocoa by-products produced by CRIG, he hinted that the institute was still talking to companies that had shown interest in going into mass production of the cocoa by-products.

In a discussion Dr. Kwabena Osei-Bonsu of CRIG said as at now there was no evidence that in the long term, the use of fertilizer under the cocoa Hi-tech programme could have any negative effect on the cocoa trees or the soil.

He disclosed that, Ghana was among the first countries in the world where the idea of application of fertiliser to cocoa was tested between the 1960 and 1970, but because of governmental policy on cocoa at that time, the idea was not made available to the farmers and at that time the cost of fertilizer to the farmer in relationship to the increase on production was not encouraging.

Dr. Osei-Bonsu said at the time Malaysia was tapping the cocoa growing culture from Ghana, that idea was contained in the documents which were provided to them and they used it to the full hence right from start, their cocoa productivity was high.

He said once that technology worked in Malaysia almost all of the South East Asia countries that grow cocoa adopted it.

Two hundred and seventy-five participants are attending the conference, which is discussing the effect of scientific research on the cocoa industry.

They came from 13 cocoa growing countries and 13 cocoa consuming nations