Nigeria, the world’s fourth-largest cocoa exporter (following Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia), may produce about 360,000 metric tons this season, compared with an earlier forecast of 400,000 tons, said Neji Abang Neji, secretary-general of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, which represents growers, traders and processors. The association cut its production target for the 2009-10 harvest by 10% because growers are using illegal, poor-quality pesticides to spray their crops, reports Bloomberg.com. Nigeria produced about 340,000 tons of the cocoa last season, Neji said.
The increased cost of pesticides and other chemicals used to protect cocoa crops against fungus and pests has led growers to use poorer-quality versions that are smuggled into Nigeria, Neji said. “We try to stop them, but it is difficult because of the difference in price.” For example, a 50-gram package of Ridomil, a fungicide used to protect cocoa against black-pod disease, costs US $1.89 in Nigeria, while the illegal version costs $0.81, he said.
The illegal pesticides, which are not being used in the prescribed quantities, are likely to negatively affect the size and quality of the harvest, Neji said. Emma Ajayi, chief executive officer of Syngenta AG’s Nigerian unit, which makes Ridomil and other crop protection chemicals, said many Nigerian growers do not apply the substance properly. “The 50-gram sachet of Ridomil should treat 50 trees, and the farmers should target the pods only, but they spread the whole tree, and end up treating only 20 trees,” he said by phone from Abuja late Tuesday.
Since 2005, the Nigerian government has boosted cocoa output by providing farmers with quick-maturing seedlings and fertilizers at subsidized prices. Improved farming methods have also helped. Nigeria has two harvests; the first seasonh typically runs from April to early September, and the main season runs from October to April.