Farmers’ Practices for the Orchard’s Maintenance and Post-Harvest Treatment of Cocoa in Infiltrated Classified and Unclassified Zone of Méagui (South-West, Côte d’Ivoire)

Abstract

An important part of Ivorian cocoa production comes from infiltrated classified forests. The objective of this study is to investigate orchard maintenance and post-harvest cocoa treatment practices used by cocoa farmers in infiltrated classified and unclassified areas of Méagui. To do this, 110 producers in two localities of the said zone were individually interviewed from February to April 2022, using a declarative questionnaire. It was found that cocoa orc-hards in the zone are aging. Nearly 68.55% of producers were heirs and 58.33% of those interviewed were under 46 years of age, with an average age of 43 years. Nearly 84.55% of the producers surveyed mainly use chemical in-secticides to control the pests of greatest concern in these localities. Regarding the frequency of insecticide treatments, 11.82% of producers make 1 to 2 applications a year, 29.09% make 3 to 5 applications a year, and 43.64% make at least 6 applications a year. The active substances of the most used products belong to 99% of the Neonicotinoid and Pyrethroid families. Regarding cocoa harvesting and post-harvest operations, 93.64% of the producers carry out a single harvest/month; all do the shelling with mini machetes. Beans are fermented mainly in black plastic tarpaulins or in bags, for a period of 3 to 5 days (65.45%). Drying is done almost entirely (91.82%) on the black plastic tarp. This study shows that cocoa farmers in the areas surveyed do not respect the recommendations issued on phytosanitary practices and post-harvest treat-ment of cocoa. This non-compliance with the standards of good practices prescribed is particularly more accentuated in the locality located in infiltrated classified zone. It would, therefore, be judicious to revise or redefine the phyto-How