CEPlac signs partnership with private sector to research cocoa varieties in Western Bahia

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), through the Executive Committee of the Cocoa Farming Plan (Ceplac), signed on Friday (25/11) a technical cooperation agreement with the private sector to identify the most popular cocoa varieties. promising for Western Bahia.

This is the first contract signed by Ceplac since it received recognition as a Science and Technology Institution (ICT). 

The objective is to present the planning of the work that will be developed, detailing the activities and responsibilities in Oeste Bahia.

Ceplac will be responsible for promoting research, development and innovation activities; supervise, evaluate performance and analyze the results of implemented actions. The company BioBrasil will execute the goals established in the agreement with the provision of basic inputs by Ceplac, such as seeds and clones (cocoa genetic materials)  selected within the program.

Western Bahia, with a dry period, allows the establishment of isolated crops for other species. Cocoa cultivation in non-traditional areas, including semi-arid and Cerrado areas, has shown an increase in productivity, such as Ceará and São Paulo. These areas are mostly cultivated with irrigation, fertigation, in full sun, with windbreaks and the use of mechanization practices.

In this way, the foundations will be established for a generation of new varieties, resistant to witches' broom and ensuring the economic viability of the crop in the southern region of Bahia.

According to the director of Ceplac, Waldeck Araújo Jr, the importance of the agreement encompasses working with the diversity of cocoa, enabling progress in identifying the development of cocoa in the areas. “This is fundamental for expanding the category in Brazil, not only in regions in traditional and non-traditional areas”, he explains.

The partnership is essential for the recovery of cocoa production in Bahia and Brazil, including identifying escape areas for the main cocoa diseases, with potential for high productivity. 

Rural producer Moisés Schmidt and one of the company's partners reinforces the dimension of the agreement with Ceplac. “This cooperation agreement comes to establish work that Ceplac has been following since the beginning and validate the work that is being done in cocoa farming.”

By 2025, Brazil's goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in cocoa production, with 300 thousand tons per year, and reach 400 thousand tons by 2030, which will allow it to expand exports of cocoa, derivatives and chocolate. These values ​​have the potential to elevate the country to third place among the largest cocoa producers in the world.