BY LORETTA B MANELE

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) has started work for their cocoa breed improvement program.

Samson Viulu, Permanent Secretary for MAL discussed this before PAC’s (Public Accounts Committee) Hearing into the 2026 Appropriation Bill 2025 this week.

He told the committee that for cocoa, their target is to reach 12,000 metric tons by 2028.

Viulu said right now they are working closely with private partners and SINU to carry out their cocoa breed improvement program.

He stated that they have already repaired their PQ, (Post Entry Quarantine) facility in Henderson after 20 years and it is working.

Viulu explained that whatever imported plants there are, these plants have to stay at the facility for two to three months and get treated before being certified as “pest free”.

“So, we have our cocoa seedlings there that are ready for cloning,” he added.

Viulu also said early next year, they will have 37 improved cocoa bud varieties from University of Reading in UK for them to do cloning and grafting of cocoa.

He mentioned that they have also taken into consideration the EU deforestation regulation which will come into effect July next year.

“And so, we are not allowed to cut down any existing trees, especially forest trees. For cocoa we cannot plant new trees, but we can cut down the existing cocoa tree, keep the bottom and do the grafting,” Viulu explained.

Cocoa grafting is a technique used to reproduce cocoa trees by joining a stem (scion) from one tree onto the root system of another (rootstock).

Viulu mentioned that their estimate of 12,000 metric tons of cocoa is because of the assumption that one tree can produce one kilo of dried cocoa in one year.

He informed the PAC that, in fact, with improved variety of cocoa seeds, they can reach a maximum of six kilos per tree.

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