Nursery

• Watering: Daily, hose/ sprinkler/ mist in glass house.
• Weeding.
• Removal of lean and lanky seedlings and unsuccessful grafts.
• Nurseries which are in operation throughout the year with water facilities and according to the availability of pods, resowing can be done in ungerminated polybags.
• Rearranging polybags
• Regrafting in some unsuccessful rootstocks.
• Overhead shade maintenance: With shade net/ thatched leaves/ plaited coconut fronds.

Young garden

• Removal of chupons arising from the rootstocks if grafts were planted and from the seedlings.
• Irrigation: Once in five days with 175 litres of water with flood irrigation and 20 liters of water/ day/ tree with drip irrigation.
• Shading young seedlings with plaited coconut leaves

Old garden

• Left over ripe pods of main harvest season and diseased pods if any, should be harvested carefully with a knife without damaging the flower cushions and newly emerged flowers.
• Rat and squirrel control: This rain free season is best for rodent control. Poison baiting and rat traps may be installed.

Nursery

• Daily watering- hose/ sprinkler/ mist in glass house.
• Weekly weeding
• Rearranging bags
• Shade maintenance

Young garden

• Flood irrigation may be given once in five days, drip- daily basis, check the drippers for clogs.
• If the existing plaited coconut fronds provided as shade to young seedlings/ grafts decomposed or damaged, replace with new one.
• In young plantations after weeding the cut weeds and palm leaves can be spread over the barren soil in between cocoa rows which will protect against hot sun, keeps it moist and cool and enrich the organic content of the soil.
• Removal of chupons, diseased, dried, blackened pods and cherelles without damaging the flower cushions

Old garden

• Irrigation
• Removal of chupons and diseased pods

Nursery

• Daily watering- hose/ sprinkler/ mist in glass house
• Regular supervision of shade net position
• Tie the nets tightly over the pipes and pillars without bending
• Cover the entire nursery area to allow filtered sunlight

Young garden

• Mulching: Provide green leaves/coir compost/5 kg FYM which will conserve the moisture in the young plantation during summer and enrich the physical properties of the soil.
• Irrigation: flood- once in five days, drip- daily.
• Shade management with intercropped banana and other shade trees in the borders to reduce the effect of sun.

Old garden

• Removal of chupons arising from the main stem.
• Take control measures for diseases like canker, charcoal pod rot and pests like mealy bugs and tea mosquito bugs.

Nursery

• Soil solarization may be started for potting mixture preparation.
• Daily watering- hose/ sprinkler/ mist in glass house.

Young garden

• Weeding: In young cocoa plantations weeding may be done through pcything, sickle cutting or machine weeding with weed cutter.
• Irrigation

Old garden

• Forking, basin opening
• Fertilizer application: First dose at the end of April in the irrigated garden.
• Irrigation: Irrigate sufficiently after fertilizer application for efficient absorption

Nursery

• Establishment of nursery: Collecting seed pods from clonal orchards or selection of mother trees. As the main harvest season starts pods are now available for sowing.
• Potting mixture preparation with well sieved 2:1:1 soil:FYM:sand in poly bags 6”x9” size 250 gauge with drain holes.
• Selection of seed pods. Pods showing ¾ th maturity just turning green to yellow and medium ripe pods should be harvested for sowing.
• Seed treatment with removal of mucilage and sowing.
• Daily watering- hose/ sprinkler/ mist in glass house.

New garden

• Selection of site and laying out for new plantation.
• Pitting: Pits of 60 cm³ should be taken 2-3 weeks before planting to ward off the field heat. While digging top and bottom soils should be heaped separately.
• Pit filling: Pit should be half filled with top soil and 5-10 kg Farm Yard Manure (FYM) one week before planting and while planting fill with bottom soil.

Old garden

• Harvesting of pods carefully with a knife or cocoa harvester without damaging the flower cushions. Ripe pods for fermentation.
• Manuring: If first dose of fertilizers were not given during April, this month it can be given in irrigated cocoa gardens.
• Plant protection: Before the on set of south west monsoon dried twigs and diseased pods should be removed. 1% Bordeaux mixture may be sprayed as a prophylactic measure to avoid Phytophthorarelated problems in high rainfall areas.

Nursery

• Weeding: Regular removal of weeds.
• Monitoring for incident of any diseases especially die back of seedlings.
• Provide sufficient drainage, channels should be cleared off of mud, stones, poly bags, dried leaves and grasses.

New garden

• Take up transplanting in the beginning of south west monsoon or the first week of June in low rainfall areas, which is the best season.
• Plant the seedlings at the centre of the pit, fill with bottom soil. Heaping of soil around the seedling will give anchorage during rainy season.
• Mulching: After planting pit should be mulched with green leaves.
• Staking: Strong small sticks should be used as stakes for tying the young seedlings.
• Shading: Cover the seedlings with plaited coconut leaves and grow shade crops like banana in the interspaces.
• Life irrigation should be given immediately after planting if rains are not there.
• Sunhemp (green manure crop) seeds may also be sown in the interspaces as a soil reclamation measure and to avoid weed growth especially in the gardens without much overhead shade (@ 20 kg/ acre).

Both in young and old gardens

• Remove drip lines, roll back and keep safely to use during post monsoon season. This will prevent the pipes/ tubes from soiling, mudding and clogging.
• Clean the channels and improve the drainage facilities.
• Removal of chupons arising from the main stem.

Old garden

• Ripe pods should be harvested carefully with a knife or with cocoa harvester without damaging the cushions or stem. Harvest may be taken up once in 10 days depend on availability of pods.
• Fertilizer: In unirrigated cocoa gardens manuring can be done at the onset of monsoon when the soil is wet for easy incorporation and absorption.

Nursery

• Intermittent removal of weeds is necessary otherwise all nourishment will be taken away by the weed plants
• Mechanical killing of insects like grass hoppers and caterpillars may be done. Burning of diseased plants is advisable.
• Removal of shade nets during rainy season
• Improve the drainage facilities
• Take control measures for nursery diseases caused by Photophthora and Colletotrichum, if noticed

New garden

• Removal of emerging shoots from the rootstock in field planted grafts.
• Gap filling: Replace the weak, dried and dead seedlings from the plot.
• Soil bunding at the base and anchoring the young seedlings to avoid falling and damaging during rainy season
• In young plantations weeding should be done frequently (4 times a year). Grown up gardens will enhance shade which suppress weed growth and so weeding can be done twice a year. Care should be taken not to damage trunk, branches and roots of young plants.

Old garden

• Ensure drainage facilities.
• Swab Bordeaux paste in cut ends of broken branches to avoid fungal infection.
• Need based plant protection should be given.
• Harvesting continued.
• Take control measures for pod rot, white thread blight, vascular streak dieback etc.

Nursery

• Weeding and supervision for any disease incidence.
• Drenching the seedlings with fungicides depends on severity of disease incidence.
• Resowing in ungerminated polybags when rains subsided.
• Watering depends on intensity of rain.
• Ensure proper drainage in the nursery

New garden

• Removal of emerging shoots from the main stem.
• Soil bunding and anchoring the young seedlings.
• Supervise for the condition of drainage channels. Channels blocked with muddy soil and plant wastes should be cleaned.
• Formation pruning in young seedlings and grafted plants.
• Cutting and incorporating green manure crop in basins.

Old garden

• Improve the sanitation in the garden by removing fallen fronds of the main crops coconut/ arecanut, over- ripe, rotten pods, broken branches etc.
• Slight pruning may be done to ensure sunlight and aeration in the garden.
• Need based plant protection.
• Harvesting continued.
• Look out for aphids, leaf eating caterpillars and cherelle wilt both in young and old seedlings.

Nursery

• Weeding and supervision for any disease incidence.
• Watering depends on continuity of rain.
• Grafting in May sown 4 months old rootstocks.
• If harvest extended with little rain sowing can be taken up in nurseries which are in operation throughout the year.
• Rootstock preparation to ensure grafting during December, followed by planting during May
• Follow the mother tree, pod selection criteria and sowing procedures of seedling preparation
• Polybag nursery is preferred for raising rootstocks.

Young garden

• Planting at the end of monsoon in high rainfall areas.
• Soil bunding and anchoring the young seedlings, mulching and shading.
• Before sunhemp plants start flowering, cut and incorporate in the basins.
• Regular removal of chupons.
• Training in young plants and structural pruning.

Old garden

• Forking and fertilizer application (second dose).
• Pruning in matured trees both structural and sanitary pruning after main harvest.
• Cut ends should be pasted with Bordeaux paste to avoid fungal infection with intermittent rains and sunshine.
• Plant protection.
• Harvesting continued.

Nursery

• Weeding and supervision for any disease incidence.
• Watering depends on intensity of rain.
• Grafting in May sown rootstocks.
• Arranging successful grafts and discarding dead ones.
• Removal of polythene pouch covered over graft joint.

Young garden

• Pruning
• Soil bunding and anchoring the young seedlings.
• Forking and fertilizer application (second dose if not applied during September).
• Banana suckers can be planted during this season in a new garden to ensure shading for young seedlings to be planted during forthcoming May.

Old garden

• Plant protection.
• Scything and weeding.
• Harvesting continued

Nursery

• Weeding
• Watering depends on intensity of rain.
• Plant protection

Young garden

• Installation of drip lines and tubes.
• Irrigation once in a week.
• Soil bunding and anchoring the young seedlings.
• Mulching may be done in young cocoa plantations with cocoa or coconut husk/ fallen cocoa leaves/ pruned twigs.
• Removal of pruned branches from tree basins and plots.

Old garden

• Rat and squirrel control.
• Weeding in plantation.
• Removal of big pruned branches from plots.

Nursery

• Weeding
• Daily watering
• Grafting may be taken up in September sown rootstocks.
• Shade net covering in the nursery

Young garden

• Irrigation once a week, drip daily basis.
• Chupons removal.
• Plant protection
• Weeding

Old garden

• Controlled pollination may be taken for hybrid seed production as flowers will be available.
• Removal of chupons, dead woods and dried cherelles.
• Control for pests