Ghana Cocoa Output May Rise 3% This Season, Research Body Says

(Bloomberg) -- Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa producer, may see production of the bean rise 3 percent this season, the head of the country's main cocoa research body said.

Cocoa production may rise to about 700,000 metric tons during the 2008-09 season, up from 680,000 tons in the previous period, said Yaw Adu-Ampomah, executive director of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, a branch of the state-run industry regulator Ghana Cocoa Board.

Ghana has the potential to further increase production to as much as 900,000 tons a season if plans to increase fertilizer use are successful, he said in an interview yesterday in Kumasi, the country's second-biggest city. While subsidized fertilizer is now available, the response from farmers ``is still low,'' Adu-Ampomah said.

The West African country plans to increase fertilizer use to 40 percent of farms within the next three years, up from 10 percent currently, Isaac Osei, chief executive officer of the Cocoa Board, said on Oct. 29.

Source : Bloomberg