Cocoa Board Urged To Be More Hands-On To Help Planters Boost Yield

KOTA KINABALU (Sabah, Malaysia), Aug 15 (Bernama) -- Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong wants the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) to be more hands-on in assisting cocoa planters increase crop yields. Urging the board to always go to the ground, he said MCB must share their technical expertise, as well as, new cocoa clones it discovered through research with the planters. "The industry has the potential to grow further with the country's cocoa and cocoa-based products export increasing 4.9 per cent to US$1.25 billion (RM5.03 billion) last year from US$1.19 billion (RM4.8 billion) the year before. (US$1 = RM4.00) "We expect this year's value to exceed that of last year," he told reporters after launching the pilot chocolate making laboratory here Monday. Mah said the Malaysian cocoa's main export destinations included the United States, Canada and Australia. On the laboratory, he said the US$274,541 (RM1.1 million) facilities were expected to create more entrepreneurs in the chocolate making industry in Malaysia's Sabah state from just 22 currently. He said the lab, which was established under the 10th Malaysia Plan, was fully-equipped with chocolate making machineries such as tempering machine and three-in-one refiner conche, as well as, classrooms for training in chocolate making. -- BERNAMA