Akim Oda (E/R), Apr. 11, GNA - Mr. Emmanuel Duah, Birim Central Municipal Best Farmer, has cautioned that if cocoa production can triple, then Licensed Cocoa Buying Companies (LBCs) in the country should avoid purchasing damp cocoa beans. Mr. Duah said his experience at various seminars and workshops revealed that the country's annual cocoa production could triple, if all the agronomical methodology prescribed by the Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG) were observed. The Municipal best farmer, who was speaking in a telephone interview, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Akim Oda that CRIG findings had confirmed that the potential yield of a cocoa tree was more than three times the current yield per hectare. He said if the country could accept the policy of agronomical practices, mobilise all stakeholders, apply and provide the commensurate incentives, then the yield could be threefold.

According to him, apart from the threat it posed to the quality of the country's cocoa industry, the practice had also led to a situation where Purchasing Clerks (P/Cs) resorted to weighing cocoa over and above the approved weight to make up the anticipated shortfall during further drying at the buying centres. Mr. Duah advised that the cocoa companies should not allow the keen competition among them undermine standards that had over the years helped the country to maintain the premium on its cocoa