DailyCelestialChallenge Saturday-agriculture-the cocoa (Parte II)

darlenys01 (72)in #celestialchallenge • 7 years ago (edited)

Discovering cocoa agriculture, for me cocoa represents one of the best fruits of history, from small growth observing cocoa trees, its cultivation enjoyed a lot to taste directly from the tree. In these past days I returned that wonderful place where cocoa is found at its maximum level, and I could not contain the idea of talking a little more about: the fruit of the Gods.

I went for a walk around the San Jose farm, the Franceshi family is where the best cacao harvests of Venezuela and perhaps the world are, have received awards for the quality of cocoa, and for their famous chocolates.

In October 2012, under the Chocolates San José brand, the Franceschi family was awarded for its Canoabo varietal, when the International Chocolate Awards awarded it with a silver medal in its last round. Its competitors were more than 200 participants, from North and South America.

It could not be in the most popular area of cocoa harvest and with its protagonists and let it pass by.

The #cacao criollo with which they have a Premium Line is characterized by having white seeds, considered very special and of great finesse.

A little less than that is what can be expected from a family that, for six generations, has dedicated time, energy and, of course, money to the plant that, between bitter and sweet, nourishes a passion without measures. It is no exaggeration to describe the Franceschi like that.

This is one of the ways in which cocoa is dried in the Hacienda San Jose, in the State Sucre Venezuela pillar.

Cocoa is an ambassador in the world of the virtues of Venezuelan soil. A land with rich and deep soils that forms the most suitable environment to bear fruits with export quality.

The holes for planting the cocoa and the accompanying trees should measure 40 x 40 x 40 centimeters, and in the background, a shovel of compost, lombri-humus, Bokashi or dry cow dung should be added. This will facilitate the development of the roots of the plants.

Land preparation

For the establishment of a cocoa plantation you can start from different types of vegetation such as; original vegetation, occupied areas, second growth forest, abandoned crop and pastures, which must be prepared several months in advance, to planting, preferably in the season of least precipitation, including the following tasks.

Tomb and pike of existing vegetation.
Repicado of the trees.
Layout of the land.
Construction of ditches for drainage, if necessary.

Sowing of cocoa
A plant obtained by grafting can be planted in the field at 2 - 3 months of age (after grafting), also a plant from seed can be planted with an age between 4 and 5 months, and with a height of 40 to 50 cm
The transplant will be done when there is enough moisture in the soil, burying the seedling up to the neck of the root, trying not to damage the rootlets, this work is recommended during the first hours of the morning.

The final sowing of cocoa can be done in conjunction with the temporary shade or when it is 6 to 8 months old.

The cocoa harvesting is not fortuitous. The cocoa farmers know the exact point at which the fruit must be removed from the tree according to the temperature of the fruit. It is there, when a solid maraca is born that it will give us a fruit that took its second step in the path of the steps ofDedication to be part of the World's Richest History.

Desgulle is the process that occurs when the cacaocultor opens the maraca to extract the fruit from it. Already from that moment, the cocoa releases odors that will intensify in the fermentation. Internally, the seeds are covered by an organic substance called mucilago with consistency that resembles the guanaba and that when tasting it, it reaffirms to you that flavors like that, are only found in Venezuela.

The fermentation is very important in the elaboration and determination of the flavors that the chocolate will later develop. In this process the grains are deprived of life to prevent germination. In this advance of the dedication steps when the experts determine much of the future aromas and flavors of chocolate

Cocoa plants are very delicate, require pruning and constant vigilance. Every day the planting of the disease propagation that attacks the fruits makes the seeds are useless. The witch's broom of cocoa, for example, is a disease caused by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa, by the year 1937, it caused the near disappearance of the plantations in the Delta Amacuro state. In the year 1945, it was found in Barlovento and for 1970, a very severe outbreak occurred in the cacao plantations of La Victoria, causing severe affections of the trees and decreases in production.