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The Theobroma Cacao tree is a fascinating tree. It produces the cacao pods from which cocoa is made. The fruits of this tree have been in constant use for many thousands of years. Ancient history shows that the cacao seeds were highly prized by people who had access to them. The seeds were not only used to make a highly sought after drink, but were also used for currency.
The cacao tree is totally regionally bound. The trees only grow in the equatorial belt in the tropics. They require a warm, humid climate with a high rainfall all year round and need to grow in the shade of other trees. They are native to America, but are found in most tropical countries around the world. Western African countries, for instance, contribute half the annual world supply of cocoa.
In natural areas the trees will grow up to 15 meters tall, but are trimmed when cultivated in order to make harvesting easier. They only fully mature at 10 years, but do begin to bear fruit from 4-5 years. They lose their leaves 2-4 times a year and new ones spasmodically appear.
The leaves of the cacao tree are fascinating – the young ones come out a reddish color in order to minimize sun damage. They have the ability to turn 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal in order to protect the young leaves and get better access to the sunlight. They are said to be poisonous to humans.
In former years large areas of the rainforests were cleared in order to plant large plantations of cacao trees. As time went on these plantations began to produce less and less fruit pods and the trees were becoming diseased. The most cocoa is now being produced on small holding farms where independent farmers plant no more than 1,000 trees. By working with nature and not against it their crop production has greatly improved.
The deduction is that the trees do not thrive in a cleared area. They no longer have the shade of other trees to shield them and the biggest problem of all is that the midges that pollinate the flowers do not venture out of the rainforest areas. They breed in the fermented leaves on the floor of the forest and have no reason to leave the rainforests.
Although the cacao tree flowers constantly – flowers sprouting from the trunks and branches of the trees – very few of them actually become fruit pods. If they are not pollinated within 24 hours they die. These flowers have about 400 aromas to attract the midges. The cacao tree constantly bears flowers and fruit at the same time, as they are not season bound.
The fruit is a seed-bearing pod – each one produces about 30-40 seeds embedded in a soft mucous. They average 5-12 inches long and 3-5 inches wide. The fruit pods take a few months to develop and require about a month to ripen. This whole process could take about eight months.
The cacao tree is prone to various diseases, which is why many farmers make use of pesticides in order to ensure a good crop of cacao seeds. Various types of insects, viruses and fungi cause the trees to become diseased. Rodents and woodpeckers also do much damage to cacao trees.
