KL cocoa's fate in smallholders' hands<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): The fate of Malaysia's cocoa industry
\nis falling into the hands of small farmers as bigger plantations
\nscramble to get out of the crop which they claim is facing its
\nworst times.<\/p>\n
Last month's announcement by Golden Hope Bhd, the country's
\nlargest cocoa grower, that it will convert all its cocoa trees to
\noil palm by mid-1999 was the clearest sign of the gloomy outlook
\nin the industry, growers said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian Cocoa Board, the government body responsible for
\nthe industry, said major estates and corporations were sounding
\nthe death knell on cocoa because they are inefficient and are
\noperating with high costs.<\/p>\n
\"Smallholders are getting more out of cocoa than big farms and
\ncompanies with all the money and technological back-up,\" said a
\nsenior official at the board, who declined to be named.<\/p>\n
\"It looks like the future of cocoa is with the smallholders.
\nThey already control about 50 percent of the crop,\" he added.
\nMalaysia's cocoa crop extends over 250,000 hectares.<\/p>\n
Growers from medium and large plantations told Reuters that
\n1996 was developing into the worst year ever for cocoa in
\nMalaysia, following a disastrous mid-year crop, and the situation
\nshowed few signs of improving by the year-end harvest.<\/p>\n
They estimated Malaysian cocoa bean production at around
\n100,000 tons this year compared with a cocoa board forecast of
\n122,000 tons and an output of 131,000 tons achieved in 1995.<\/p>\n
The growers, mostly located in Tawau, Malaysia's largest
\ncocoa-growing area in eastern Sabah state, blamed poor yields on
\nfloods that ravaged the crop between December and February.<\/p>\n
The floods destroyed the first crop between April and June and
\nalso affected the July-September harvest. They added that recent
\ncontinuous heavy rain was also threatening the final annual crop
\nbetween October and December.<\/p>\n
The average 3,000-3,200 ringgit (US$1,200-$1,280) currently
\nfetched for a ton of Malaysian cocoa beans is too little to be
\nprofitable, said the growers, who have been switching to oil palm
\nenmasse.<\/p>\n
\"It doesn't make any economic sense to stay with cocoa,\" said
\nAnthony Tsen, a cocoa grower who earned a total of 367 ringgit
\nfrom the crop in August -- lower than the 400 ringgit paid to
\neach farm worker.<\/p>\n
Tsen said most medium and large farms had chopped down the
\nmajority of their cocoa trees to replant with oil palm and that
\nhis estate, Landquest Sdn Bhd, was doing the same.<\/p>\n
Recovery<\/p>\n
While the board believes new higher yielding strains of cocoa
\ntrees could result in a recovery in Malaysian production, the
\ngrowers are more skeptical noting the high cost of inputs needed
\nto ensure the plants produce at their full potential.<\/p>\n
The cocoa board official told Reuters that although the
\naverage cocoa yield per hectare in Malaysia was 600 to 800 kg,
\ncocoa farms could achieve as high as 2.0 to 3.0 tons a hectare by
\nensuring regular application of fertilizers to the crop and
\ncareful pest control.<\/p>\n
\"Smallholders are doing it and they can net up to 1,800
\nringgit a hectare,\" said the official.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe this isn't enough for corporations which have to pay
\nexecutive salaries and contend with destructive diseases and
\ninsects such as the cocoa pod borer. Oil palm is so much easier
\nto plant and profitable too.\"<\/p>\n
Malaysia's 12 cocoa grinders have a total capacity to grind
\nabout 120,000 tons of beans annually to produce cocoa butter and
\npowder for the chocolate industry.<\/p>\n
But they only process about 60,000 to 80,000 tons of beans as
\nthe balance is exported to places such as Singapore, China and
\nIndia, said a spokesman for Teck Guan Perdana, an integrated
\ncocoa grower and grinder in Sabah.<\/p>\n
\"We can't say there's no future for Malaysian cocoa as our
\ntraders export some 20,000 to 40,000 tons annually and they can't
\ndo that unless there's good price and demand,\" he said striking a
\nbullish note in a largely gloomy industry.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kl-cocoas-fate-in-smallholders-hands-1447893297",
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