COCOBOD, Ghana's Cocoa Board, will shortly begin the process of handing over administration of repaired cocoa fields to their owners.
This follows the successful two-year rehabilitation of hundreds of acres of CSSVD-infected fields under the COCOBOD and Government-funded Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme.
Hon Joseph Boahen Aidoo, COCOBOD's Chief Executive, made the news while inspecting a 145.8-hectare repaired cocoa field in Kumikrom in the Western Region's Bekwai District.
The inspection was part of a two-day field trip to select cocoa towns in the Western North Region, which included farmer involvement. It was also an occasion for the Region's Chief Executive to check on the status of a few cocoa road improvements.
During his visit to Kumikrom, he told the cocoa farmers that it was time for the early beneficiaries of the rehabilitation initiative to take over the management of their fields.
He urged the farmers to diligently follow sound agronomic and agroforestry techniques in order to guarantee that the farms may produce at their full potential without causing environmental harm.
COCOBOD created the National Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme, which was formally started in 2020 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to slow the development of CSSVD on cocoa estates.
On unhealthy farms, the procedure begins with the cutting and chemical treatment of cocoa plants. The plantations are subsequently replanted with disease-resistant, early-bearing cocoa types that provide excellent yields.