About Theobroma Cacao

Overview 3 Chocolate Trees: All About Theobroma Cacao

How much water does a cacao tree need? Sources Cacao trees cannot survive in very dry International Cocoa Or- weather and thrive in climates with high ganization. www.icco.org/ humidity and rainfall. These moisture-lov- about/growing.aspx ing plants grow best in areas that receive approximately 60 to 80 inches (1,500 to American Museum of 2,000 mm) of rain per year and cannot sur- Natural History. vive in regions that consistently receive www.amnh.org/ less than four inches (100 mm) of rain per sciencebulletins/ month. biobulletin/biobulletin/ story720.html How many beans are needed to make chocolate? American Museum of On average: Natural History. • Each tree will yield 20 to 30 pods per www.amnh.org/ year. sciencebulletins/ • Each pod contains 20 to 40 beans. biobulletin/biobulletin/ • Approximately 400 beans are required story669.html to make one pound of chocolate. by their natural predators, but on an World Agroforestry Centre. How much space does a cacao tree need open plantation they can decimate a www.worldagroforestry. to grow? cacao crop. org/ Cacao trees grow 15 to 25 feet (4.5 – 6 m) • Rainforests meet the shade require- tall and need an area of about 15 square ments of cacao trees and provide the feet (1.4 square meters). high humidity, rainfall and soil condi- tions necessary for continued growth. What kind of soil is best? Cacao trees grown in the shade and Cacao needs soil that is nutrient-rich, humidity of a forest produce far more retains water well and has good drainage. pods than plantation-grown trees. Soils that consist of large, coarse particles • The surrounding vegetation in a forest are ideal as they leave free space for the protects cacao trees from strong, dam- roots to grow. aging winds. • The cacao tree depends on other What pollinates cacao plants? species, including certain species of The cacao plant’s primary pollinators are monkeys, to eat the pulp out of their tiny gnat-like flies called midges. Because pods and disperse the interior seeds the flower of the cacao tree is only the size for propagation. These seeds are of a nickel and has a very complex design, sensitive to sunlight and dry out easily the midge is one of the only insects small in the less humid plantation environ- enough to find its way to the center. ment.

Why do cacao trees grow best in a What birds can be found in the rainforest rainforest? around cacao trees? • The primary pollinator of cacao trees, Central and South American cacao the midge, prefers the damp and dark regions: yellow-tailed oriole, collared tro- rainforest over open, sunny planta- gon, chestnut-mandibled toucan, squirrel tions where cacao trees are planted far cuckoo, laughing falcon, green kingfisher away from one another in neat rows. • Unlike midges, many pests thrive in Western African cacao regions: African a plantation environment. Within the grey parrot, green hylia, icterine greenbul, rainforest, pests such as leafcutter pale-breasted illadopsis, red-bellied para- ants and caterpillars are held in check dise flycatcher