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Malaysia eyeing higher cocoa yield

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia plans to raise its average cocoa yield to offset a decline in planting areas, an industry official said.

Efforts were underway to increase by nearly 90 percent the current average yield of 0.8 tonnes per hectare, Malaysian Cocoa Board director general Mohd Musa Jamil told Reuters.

"We are trying to raise the national average (yield) to 1.5 tonnes per hectare," Musa said.

"We are helping the farmers to achieve this, and we know we can as some producers are getting up to three tonnes," he said in an interview.

Musa said one way to increase productivity was to rehabilitate existing cocoa areas with high-yielding varieties.

Total planting area stood at 111,385 hectares at the end of 1999, down from 120,836 hectares a year earlier.

Musa said the drop was due to conversion to oil palm cultivation by farmers seeking better returns.

"We are working hard to arrest this issue but we cannot control prices," he said. He did not rule out a further drop in planting hectarage if cocoa prices stay weak.

Prices of Malaysian cocoa are currently at around 3,000 ringgit a tonne compared with nearly 5,000 ringgit at the beginning of last year, reflecting a drop in international prices.

Musa said he hoped the local market would stay above 3,000 ringgit a tonne to prevent farmers from diverting to more lucrative palm oil.

Musa was also hoping for better international prices following Ivory Coast's decision to ban exports of small cocoa beans.

The move, announced on Monday, could reduce exports from Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, by as much as 80,000 tonnes a year, industry sources said.

Musa said Malaysian cocoa output was expected to rise to about 90,000 tonnes this year from 83,668 in 1999.

"Last year we had dry weather at around this time and it affected the crop. But the weather is good at the moment and we may get back to 90,000 tonnes this year," he said.

Malaysia produced 90,183 tonnes of cocoa beans in 1998.

Musa said imports of cocoa beans in 2000 were expected to remain at around last year's 60,000 tonnes. Imports totalled 57,198 tonnes in 1998.

Volume of cocoa ground in Malaysia this year is expected to be around the 1999 level of 110,000 tonnes, up from 100,000 in 1998, he said.

Malaysia has about 10 cocoa grinders, with a total grinding capacity of 145,000 tonnes a year.

Cocoa beans are largely imported from Indonesia, which accounts for over 70 percent of Malaysia's total imports. The rest are from Papua New Guinea, Ivory Coast and Ghana.-Reuters