IITA will be providing vital support to Nigeria’s cocoa transformation efforts, as the country embarks on doubling production of the crop in the next few years.

Specifically, the institute plans to help the country in the development of high quality and clean planting materials using improved breeding techniques.

In the action plan presented to the members of the Cocoa Transformation Agenda in IITA-Ibadan, IITA intends to deploy advanced micropropagation techniques for rapid and high ratio propagation of improved cocoa. The objective is to produce clean and disease-free cocoa trees with high yield that will improve the incomes of cocoa farmers and ensure environmental and social sustainability of cocoa-based production systems.

The technology, which is currently being applied in Cote d’Ivoire, has helped that country in rehabilitating its cocoa farms, making it the world’s largest producer.

Although Nigeria accounts for about 5 per cent of the world’s cocoa production, the government’s efforts to increase production are being hampered by old and unproductive cocoa trees, poor infrastructure, pests, diseases, low farmer education, and inadequate supply of farm inputs, among others.

Lava Kumar, IITA Virologist, said the clean planting materials technology would help Nigeria to rapidly propagate improved cocoa trees that could be used by farmers to replace old and unproductive trees.

“This is an important step towards cocoa transformation because we need to increase Nigeria’s cocoa yield,” said Kumar.

“It’s actually a game changer for the sector,” he added.

The institute plans to work with the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), National Centre for Genetic Resources & Biotechnology (NACGRAB), and other national partners, transferring the technology to them and building national capacity.