The document discusses the history, cultivation, and breeding of cocoa. It notes that cocoa originated in South America and was cultivated by ancient Mayan civilizations. It is now grown commercially in many tropical countries. The document outlines the botany of cocoa trees and describes the three main cultivars. It then provides details on the breeding objectives and released varieties in India, including yield characteristics and disease resistance of the 10 CCRP varieties.

2. KITTUR RANI CHANNAMMA COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE, ARABHAVI
Presentation on Crop Improvement in

3. Introduction:
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.; family Sterculiaceae) is indigenous to
South America.
The Mayas, Toltecs and Aztecs knew the plant more than 3000 years
ago.
 Theobroma bicolor was known to Maya (one of the Indian races in
America) as there is evidence to show that the Mayas in South America
were cultivating cocoa which was wild and inferior in quality.
Cocoa thus has one of the oldest histories among crops cultivated by
man.
 It was only during seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
that the cocoa tree was introduced to many other sub-tropical
countries.

4. As a perennial tree crop, it is traditionally and still predominantly
cultivated beneath a diverse shade cover.
The shaded system enhances the soil, protects it from erosion,
provides non-cocoa products to the farmer and a refuge to an array of
animal groups like birds, insects, small mammals, and reptiles as it
provides a fine biodiversity within the system.
 It was introduced to Southern India during the present century mainly
as an intercrop of coconut and arecanut gardens as it was found that the
climate within the gardens is conducive to cocoa growth.

5. Cocoa appears to have occupied an important place during sixteenth
century and it is not known how it spread to Central America from its
original place of origin in Amazon basin.
The cultivation later spread to Venezuela, Caribbean Islands and
other areas in South America and from Caribbean area to Philippines
and Malaysia. From there it might have come to Sri Lanka and India
through introductions (Ratnam, 1961).
The major cocoa producing countries are: Trinidad, Brazil, Costa Rica,
Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Colombia, Madagascar, Cuba, Fiji
Islands, India, China, Mexico, Guyana, Jamaica, Sri Lanka.
Almost 90 per cent of the world's cocoa production comes from small
holdings of 2 ha or less as a lower storey crop under mixed cropping
systems.

6. Area and Production:
Area Production Productivity
46.3 `000ha 12.9MT 0.3MT/Hectare

7. Nutritional composition per 100 g cocoa powder:
Carbohydrate 16.5 g
Protein 21.5 g
Fat 11 g
Dietary fiber 34 g
Polyphenols 7-18 g
Theobromine 2.5 g
Caffeine 0.1 g
Potassium 2g
Calcium 150 mg
Magnesium 550 mg
700 mg
Phosphorous

8. Botany: Botanical Name: Theobroma cacao
Family: Sterculiaceae
Chromosome number: 2n=20
It is a wide-branching evergreen tree, reaching 20-25 feet in
height and grows in the shade. It starts producing after 4 or 5 years
but yields most between 15 and 25 years of age.
Two harvests are made yearly. The plant is ‘ cauliflorous ' with flowers
(and later fruits) protruding directly from the woody branches and
trunk.
The fruit or 'pod', reaches to one foot long and 2-4 inches in
diameter. There are three main botanical cultivars, namely, ‘Criollo',
‘ Forestero ' and ‘ Trinitario '. The fruit or 'cocoa pod` is yellow or
orange and about 10 inches long, 6 inches wide and weighs about
500 grams. It contains 30to 50 seeds.

9. • Criollo, the cocoa tree used by the Mayas, is highly prized and rare,
less bitter and more aromatic than other beans, from which only 5–
10% of chocolate is made.
• Forestero, which include several sub-varieties, are significantly
hardier than Criollo's trees and produce cheaper cocoa beans, in fact
they are used for 80% of world chocolate production. The Arriba
variety is considered the best one.
• Trinitario, a hybrid of Criollo's and Forastero, is used in about 10–
15% of chocolate production.

10. Criollo pod

11. Forestero pod

12. Sl. No. Character Criollo Forastero
1. Cotyledons Plumpy and white when fresh Flat and purple when
& turn cinnamon coloured on fresh & turn dark
fermentation. chocolate brown on
fermentation.
2. Pod colour Dark red Yellow
3. Other pod characters Rough surface, ridges Smooth ridges, thick
prominent, pronounced point walled, melon shaped
& thin walled. with rounded end.
4. Flavour and aroma Bland flavour Harsh flavour, bitter taste
5. Duration of 3 days 6 days
fermentation
6. Adaptability in India Poor adaptability and less Good adaptability and
yield potential & hence high yielding & hence
discouraged for commercial recommended for
cultivation. commercial cultivation.

13. Parts of Cocoa tree:

14. Other species of Cocoa:
• Theobroma angustifolium
• T. bicolor
• T. chocoense
• T. gileri
• T. grandiflorum
• T. mammosum
• T. microcarpum
• T. obovatum
• T. speciosum
• T. sylvestre
• T. velutinum

15. Pollination and Thinning:
• Cocoa flowers are Self-incompatible.
• Flowers open in the early morning and hand pollination
accomplished by using a small artist's paint brush that is first placed
in contact with the anthers of an open flower and then placed in
contact with the stigma of another flower.
• Cocoa plants may set a large number of fruit, which may lead to plant
decline. In general, only 1 to 2 pods should be allowed to develop at
any one flowering cushion on a limb.
• The vector of pollination are small midges of Dipteran families
Ceratopogonidae and Cecidomyiidae

16. Flower

18. Genetics and breeding:
 Breeding objectives:
• High yield
• Resistant to disease (CSSV and black pod)
• Flavour
• Adoption to local climate
• Early and sustainable bearing
 Constraints in breeding
• Genetic base of cocoa is very narrow
• Environment problem
• Alternate bearing
• Cross incompatibility
• Limitation of space

19. Germplasm collection:
• 159 Exotic cultivars are maintained in CPCRI, Kasaragod.
• In India, the crop improvement work started during 1980's at Vittal
and Vellanikara. This involved selection of parental material,
evaluation and production of hybrids.
• At Vittal four progeny trials with 57 combinations have been field
evaluated (Bhat, 1999).
• At KAU, Vellanikara a total of 119 crosses were made and some of
these have been assessed (Nair et aI, 1994). Breeding for drought
tolerance has also been done in CPCRI, Vittal (Balasimha et al., 1988;
Balasimha et al., 1999).

20. • Nine accessions were evaluated for yield and related characters at
Bangalore in 1986-87 (Nair et aI, 1990).
• ICS-l and ICS-6 performed best for number of pods/plant (71.3 and
69, respectively) and bean yield (3.5 and 2.2 kg/plant), and had good
plant heights and canopy spreads.
• Single-bean weight was greatest in 'IMC-67'(2 g) and this accession
had the best pod value.

21.  In India ten varieties were released from Cadbury Cocoa Research
Project, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala.
 CCRP 1 to 7 are improved clones of Forestero type developed
through single plant selections from local populations and exotic
collections.
 CCRP 8 to 10 are hybrids. All varieties are tolerant to vascular
streak die back.

22. 1) CCRP 1:
• Pods medium sized, green which changes to yellow on ripening,
constricted at base, blunt beak and moderately deep ridges and
furrows. Trees are self incompatible. Mature pods weigh 385 g, with
46 beans and 0.8 g oven dry bean weight.
• Average yield 56 pods / tree / year with a potential yield of 72 pods.
2) CCRP 2:
• Pods large, green in colour changing to yellow on ripening.
• The rind is smooth with thin pericarp. Trees are self incompatible.
• Mature pods weigh 311.3g with 45.5 beans and 0.9g oven dry bean
weight. On an average a tree yields 54 pods/plant /year.

23. 3) CCRP 3:
• Pods medium sized, large in number, green in colour changing to
yellow on ripening.
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Mature pods weigh 240.6g with 42.3 beans and 1.0g oven dry bean
weight. On an average a tree yields 68 pods/plant /year.
4) CCRP 4:
• Pods large, purple tinged turning yellow on ripening.
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Mature pods weigh 402 g with 45beans and 1.1 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield is 66 pods l tree/year with a potential yield of 93
pods.

24. 5) CCRP 5:
• Pods large, elliptical, green when immature turns yellow on ripening,
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Mature pods weigh 425 g with 42 beans and 0.8 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield is 38 pods/tree/year with a potential yield of 55 pods.
6) CCRP 6:
• Pods are very big, green turning to yellow on ripening.
• Rind thick, elliptical without basal constriction, with shallow ridges
and furrows.
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Mature pods weigh 895 g with 48 beans and 1.9 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield is 50 pods/ tree/year with a potential yield of 180 pods.

25. 7) CCRP 7:
• Pods large, elongated, green turning to yellow on ripening, pod
surface rugose, moderately deep ridges and furrows.
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Mature pods weigh 526 g with 47 beans and 0.9 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield is 78 pods / tree with a potential yield of 95 pods.
8) CCRP 8:
• Hybrid between CCRP 1 x CCRP 7.
• Trees are self-incompatible.
• Pods green, medium sized, turning yellow on ripening.
• Mature pods weigh 389 g with 49 beans and 0.88 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield 90 pods/tree giving 11.40 kg wet beans.

26. 9) CCRP 9:
• Hybrid between CCRP 1 x CCRP 4.
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Pods green, medium sized, turning yellow on ripening.
• Mature pods weigh 370 g with 37 beans and 0.8 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield 106 pods/tree giving 8.97 kg wet beans.
10) CCRP 10:
• Hybrid between CCRP 3xGVI 68.
• Trees are self incompatible.
• Pods green, medium sized turning yellow on ripening.
• Mature pods weigh 332 g with 41 beans and 1.1 g oven dry bean
weight.
• Average yield is 80 pods/ tree giving 8.15kg wet beans.

27. Web links:
• CPCRI, Kasaragod.
• http://www.skillsspace.co.uk/images/flash_processing.gif Dt 15/10/2011
• http://www.food-info.net/images/chocolateflowsheet.jpg