The National Institute for Agricultural Research (Iniap) has released a new cocoa material whose advantages include doubling the production capacity of the pods in the first year of life, it is INIAP EET 802, as stated by the state entity.

Yield – show through

With an investment of almost $1 million, the new irrigation system will serve 83 hectares of bananas, cacao trees and pumpkins in Yaguachi

The launch of the new cocoa tree by the entity together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) comes after more than 20 years of research.

According to the researcher of the National Cocoa Program, James Quiroz, this material comes from two Amazonian genotypes, Amaz 14 and EBC 148. It has features that stand out such as early maturity, material that produces before nine months, doubling the production capacity of the cob in the first year of life .

“In this case, traditional cocoa farmers produce five to six quintals in the first year, which easily exceeds 12 to 15 quintals per year,” he said.

Iniap pointed out that with a study conducted between 2016 and 2019 with two Amazonian-type materials, they were able to obtain an average annual production index of more than 60 healthy pods per hectare, estimating a higher yield than CCN 51 cocoa trees.

The founder of the company Ecokakao, Iván Ontaneda, assessed that Ecuador is working on these researches as positive. For this particular case, he pointed out that we would have to see, examine what the behavior would be, the adaptation it has in different microclimates, which will create resistance to diseases, as well as its productivity.

“It is positive, it is favorable that Ecuador continues and should do so in a much deeper way, I believe, in scientific research related to genetic materials that help improve quality and productivity,” he said.

He earned his first sucres by renting magazines, now he invests millions of dollars in plants for the processing of Ecuadorian cacao trees that he exports

Ontaneda, who was Minister of Production between 2019 and 2021, commented that Ecuador has been conducting important scientific research for years and that the discovery of a clone that today represents the state’s cocoa economy, such as CCN-51, is proof of this. discovered many years ago by Homero Castro, 100% private investigation.

Quiroz indicated that this cocoa has a caramel and honey flavor “which makes it an exotic flavor that would just allow producers to maximize the marketing of cocoa with a special aroma.”

According to Iniap, for the cocoa sector, this new alternative will enable the exploitation of its excellent quality profile, classifying it in the Arriba Superior Summer Selecta (ASSS) category according to INEN standard 176 (2018), and therefore considered within the fine cocoa and aroma categories.

For the commercial adoption of this material as a primary area, the peninsula area (Guayas and Santa Elena) is recommended, but they show that it is not limited to other areas of the country where cocoa is grown, as long as there are special sanitary management conditions to be kept in mind.