The cacao industry of Ecuador

Abstract

The areas yielding the most dry beans per acre lie in the vicinity of Chone , Manabi, and Vinces, Los Rios, where the average production on the best haciendas approaches 250 pounds per acre. Cultivation practices consist of weeding the plantation once or twice each year. Pruning, spraying, and the use of fertilizers are not generally practiced. Trucks and tractors were reported on only 6 percent of the haciendas studied, and such agricultural machinery as plows, discs, and harrows is used on correspondingly few. The machete is still the standard implement. Fermentation in tanks or boxes is not practiced in preparing the beans for market. Instead, they are spread on floors where they dry slowly and ferment. The most important diseases are witches '-broom, caused by Marasmius pernic I ousus , and Monilia pod rot, caused by MomLia rpreri. These two diseases have contributed greatly to the 65-percent reduction in average annual production during the two decades ending in 1947. On old plantations, the decrease was probably as great as 80 percent. Witches '-broom appears to be the more serious disease, destroying not only the fruits but also the foliage and flowers. Among the various types of cacao Venezuela, there are some that are more resistant to disease than cacao nacional. The red-pod types are usually more susceptible than the yellow. The incidence of w i tc he s '-broom disease decreases and yield increases from the Province of Los Bios in the north to the Province of El Oro in the south, due probably to rainfall and sunlight. A total of 339 superior trees from all provinces were selected for study because of their disease resistance and high-yielding ability. Insects and animal pests, especially cacao beetles, various butterfly larvae, thrips, and squirrels cause damage to the crop, particularly in plantations adjacent to abandoned or semi abandoned cacao. Management in most haciendas comes from the resident foreman, with infrequent visits and guidance from the nonresident owner. There is usually insufficient working capital utilized on the haciendas to permit efficient production. Labor shortages and hand methods also seriously handicap proper operation of many haciendas. Resident labor provides most of the workers, on large haciendas, while small haciendas depend more upon nonresident and migratory help. Improvement in diet, sanitation, living conditions, and education facilities are needed in all cacao zones. Low prices and abnormally low production prompted growers to increase the cultivation of more profitable cash crops, such as rice, corn, and bananas. Diversification in agriculture is practiced on a few of the haciendas only, and most of them have little livestock. Growers emphasized the need for the maintenance of favorable prices and the establishment of agricultural credit facilities for long periods of time at reasonable rates of interest. Growers also desire technical service to develop and make available superior planting materials and cultivation practices.-3

Evaluation of Certain Factors Affecting the Yield of Cacao in Ecuador

“…of the U. S. Operations Mission to Ecuador for their helpful comments during the preparation of the manuscript. cacao industry in 1946 (Fowler and Lopez R. 1949).…”

Tracing the native ancestors of the modern Theobroma cacao L. population in Ecuador

“…No significant level of genetic differentiation between these two collections was evidenced. As also demonstrated by F statistics, the genetic structure of modern Nacional cacao population is characterised by a high level of heterozygosity in agreement with the historical events of introduction of foreign germplasm, since the end of 1890s, and its subsequent gene flow with the native Nacional cacao population (Van Hall 1932;Fowler and Lopez 1949). From our results, most of the cacao trees in the germplasm banks of Pichilingue (EET-P) and Tenguel (CCAT) appeared as hybrids that mainly shared alleles with the typical Trinitario type UF676 and with the HoN individuals, confirming the hybrid nature of modern Nacional cacao.…”

Cacao capitalism in coastal Ecuador: Production processes and accumulation in non‐transitionary agrarian capitalism during the long 19th century

“…Cacao capitalism never recovered. By 1927, cacao exports equalled less than half their quantity in 1922, and by 1940, they were bottoming out at 230,000 quintales (Fowler & Lopez, 1949). Coastal Ecuador, the country's most globally integrated region, anticipated the Great Depression by some 7 years, decimating its economy while aggravating wealth disparities between the region and Western Europe and the United States.…”