Cut down infested cocoa trees for replanting – Chief Farmer

A chief cocoa farmer at Nsranor, Nana Debrah Amanor, on Wednesday appealed to cocoa farmers to allow their infested cocoa trees to be cut down for replanting. Nana Amanor made the appeal when he met a cross-section of cocoa farmers at Gyewani Nkwanta in the Eastern Region, after visiting his six acres cocoa farm. The chief farmer noted that if the diseased cocoa trees were not cut down, they will infest other trees. He urged farmers to clear their farms before spraying the cocoa trees in order to have high yield, saying the swollen shoot disease was hampering the efforts of cocoa farmers. Nana Amanor observed that the practice where most farmers used unapproved insecticides to control black pod and other pests was not healthy. He, therefore, urged cocoa farmers in the major cocoa growing areas to endeavour to apply recommended insecticides on their cocoa farms, to ensure that the country continues to merit the premium placed on its cocoa beans.