Cocoa in Sikka

Much of the area where the NTA works in the district of Sikka in Flores is mountainous. It’s also volcanic, and subject to frequent earth tremors. The soils are fertile, and in the mid-1960s the local parish priest at Watublapi, Father Bollen who came from Germany, introduced cocoa planting. He felt this would usefully supplement the primarily subsistence agriculture, and turned out to be right. A few farmers began planting this tree at heights over 400 metres. Eventually, and given the excellent cash returns and stimulus of their enthusiastic mentor, many thousands followed suit.

40 years later, however, most cocoa trees are old and unproductive. They are overgrown with heavy canopies, and suffer from lack of shade trees. Fungus attacks are widespread, and the relatively small crops of fruit are often infected and unsaleable.

These problems have been actively addressed by the local technology research station, or BPT, in Maumere. It’s worked out new ways of pruning and fertilizing old trees, as well as ‘budgrafting’ them by inserting slivers of high-yielding stock into the trunk (Photos). These slivers grow into a new tree, and previous branches can be cut off. Subsequent yields (and cash revenues) are far higher than under traditional technology, and outcomes are very profitable.

The difficulty is that the BPT has no resources for promoting its innovations. That’s where the NTA and its local partner, the YPMF, come in. We started helping in 2006, and now have 10 cocoa demonstration farms in the hills above Maumere. Each farm is linked to a small cooperative or kelompok, whose members are trained by BPT and YPMF staff, and are steadily making improvements.

The big problem, as with all new technologies, is that promotion takes time. It’s risky for farmers to change from old and tried methods, especially in a situation where their fall-back resources are so limited. What we’ve found best to do is to focus on progressive farmers, who then encourage others. With cocoa our best progressive farmer is Pak Woleng, an old gentleman (Ria’s Sketch) who at the start was ignored by the BPT as being ‘too old’. But he’s already pruned and budgrafted all his trees, and is a terrific example to others.

This year we’re actively continuing to sponsor cocoa, and will need to go on many more years. We’re sure we can transform cocoa production in this part of Sikka, and much more than treble peoples’ incomes in places concerned.