IMPACTT Project Cocoa Farmers Outreach Meeting

Senator the Honourable Clarence Rambharat, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries (MALF) attended the IMPACTT Project Cocoa Farmers Outreach Meeting held at the Ministry’s Rio Claro Demonstration Centre.

IMPACTT (Improving Marketing and Production of Artisanal Cocoa from Trinidad and Tobago), is a project undertaken by the Cocoa Research Centre of the University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine Campus.
Topics discussed at the session included :

• Improving cocoa production through the adoption of best practices
• Increasing productivity in existing cocoa fields
• Management of cocoa diseases with emphasis on Black Pod Disease
• Post-harvest processing and quality management.

Minister Rambharat, in his address to the farmers, indicated that they were indeed fortunate to have some of the “best minds” in the industry at the session and described the IMPACTT Project as “excellent”.

Also addressing the attendees were Mr Raffick Ali, Director, Regional Administration, South, (MALF); Mr Kamaldeo Maharaj; Technical Consultant, IMPACTT Project and Prof. Path Umaharan, Director, Cocoa Research Centre, UWI.