Research

Cost of cocoa production in Australia is appreciably more than in low cost countries in West Africa where 70 per cent of cocoa is grown. Research is therefore integral to achieve high yield, quality cocoa production.

Australia’s cocoa industry is new. The first planting occurred in 1998 when Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (now AgriFutures) funded a project to determine whether cocoa could be grown in Australia. The answer was yes!

The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Centre for Wet Tropics Agriculture at South Johnstone in far north Queensland (FNQ) is doing further research concentrating on production trials to maximise yield (clonal selections and trellising) and clonal selection to develop planting for FNQ. It covers the following themes: 

*Research into breeding better cocoa trees - This is about bean yield and flavour and balancing yield against flavour and disease resistance;
*Managing cocoa plant diseases better including epidemiology, control and breeding resistance. This is essential for most cocoa producing regions, where low management and low inputs (fertiliser and pesticides) might expose cocoa to diseases; 
*Research into mixed planting of cocoa and horticulture/forestry species;
*Cocoa quality including a better understanding of fermentation and drying;
*Bean quality and safety research;.

*Higher production by testing new selections under commercial conditions;
*Production systems, eg trellis and/or free-standing trees, pruning management; and
*Industry extension and training, involving revamping cocoa production guides, grafting training, production workshops and industry meetings;