{"id":1554,"date":"2016-12-12T11:42:07","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T11:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/?p=1554"},"modified":"2018-08-13T13:03:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T13:03:21","slug":"andreina-portillo-el-cacao-no-es-un-conuco-es-una-empresa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/andreina-portillo-el-cacao-no-es-un-conuco-es-una-empresa\/","title":{"rendered":"Andre\u00edna Portillo: “Cocoa is not a simple plot, it’s a company”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Por Juan Pablo Crespo<\/p>\n

Photos: Liliana El\u00edas<\/p>\n

For her the field has something magical, inspiring … something as the English poet William Cowper said: “God made the countryside, and man the city.”<\/p>\n

As the countryside is her second home, talking to her on the phone is not just a piece of cake. Deep inside a farm, her cell-phone does not have coverage, as if the blessed land were imposing its own rules. The Agricultural Engineer Andre\u00edna Portillo takes advantage and enjoys every direct contact with cocoa producer. She says that it makes her sensitive, opens her senses and strengthens her knowledge. That\u2019s why her leitmotiv is “without cocoa producers there is no chocolate”.<\/p>\n

Portillo works for Chococao as the Coordinator of Cacao-Sur del Lago Plan (in alliance with Nestl\u00e9), in western Venezuela. Her task allows her to assist the first and most important link in the chain. “Knowing the producer helps me to be sensitive to the product and its people, to feel the problems that affect them and to establish the adequate paths to boost the seed and its protagonists,” says who is also a taster with a Master Degree in Food Science from the University of Zulia. “I am a technical researcher, but who really knows what happens in the plantation is the producer,” She adds the music-lover before taking a plane to Maracay (Aragua State) to participate in a training workshop.<\/p>\n

Chococao is a cocoa processing centre located in Zulia state. The company has the widest dryers in Venezuela, 31 fermentation drawers and 69 drying drawers. Some 800 producers from the states of Merida, Trujillo and Zulia supply Chococao with the main raw material of chocolate. The Cacao Plan consists of a comprehensive assistance programme to the producer which includes technical support, transfer of knowledge and new technologies, benefiting small and medium producers.<\/p>\n

In this field work Portillo has found that the producer usually sees his farm or estate as a plot, which holds back the development of the full potential of the land. “It is necessary to promote a change of attitude. Producers must have a whole administrative control of their farms in order to make them profitable and sustainable. Having this producer profile, the relay generation will feel more encouraged to continue with the activity. “<\/p>\n

-You constantly proclaim that without cocoa farmers there is no chocolate, why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Because cocoa farmers produce the raw material of chocolate, thus, if we do not promote cocoa production through increasing planting density, it will be impossible to meet the chocolate goals. This means that our main ally must be the producer. Therefore, our lodestar must be to strengthen the countryside.<\/p>\n

–Then, now more than ever our attention should be turned to the countryside <\/strong><\/p>\n

-That is so. Notice that since colonial times we have not longer produced more than 25 thousand tons of cocoa due to lack of strength of the countryside. It is not enough to believe or know that we have the best cocoa in the world, it is necessary to fully demonstrate it. In this sense, I consider very important to establish plans and projects together with the government, private companies, universities and specialized institutes in order to enhance the production of this product, especially productivity and profitability. Recall that the national performance is very low.<\/p>\n

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Regain the prestige<\/strong><\/p>\n

The comprehensive attention to the producer and to cacao must become an inseparable bond to rescue our Criollo cocoa, now in risk, according to Portillo’s analysis. Taking advantage of the re-launch of cocoa culture could be a good pretext to bring together all sectors.<\/p>\n

– And how do we improve productivity and profitability?<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Under government guidelines to guarantee us financing policies for producers, to assure us plant propagation centres and germplasm banks for the generation of quality seeds and, above all, to regain the prestige of our Criollo cocoas. We can never ignore the transfer of knowledge to our producers through technical assistance and their own organisation. To improve production it is necessary to increase the density of planting per hectare, 1111 plants \/ Ha, planted separated three meters one another, performing a precise fertilization depending on soil conditions. We also have to have proper handling of pruning as well as an adequate control of plagues and diseases. All this will allow us to sustain any plan.<\/p>\n

“You’re talking about rescuing the Criollo cocoas, are they in risk?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Yes because for a long time there have been introduced some products with features different from Criollo. Although these cocoas are more resistant to plagues and diseases, they are more rustic. Hence it has been affecting the production of the Criollo cocoa. Here the cultivation of this seed is handled like a plot, to put it somehow, thus, those resistant to inattention are the cacaos hybrids or Foresteros. We have an unresolved issue with the country.<\/p>\n

-We must also remember that our cocoa was decreed an emblem and the chocolate a strategic food for Venezuelan diet…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Venezuelan cocoa is a strategic item. Among other reasons because it is highly sought in international markets and therefore, it can be a source of foreign currency. What nature has given us can become a key piece for bolstering the national productive system. Chocolate, on the other hand, is a nutritious food with important health benefits due to its content of antioxidants and vitamins.<\/p>\n

-There are good plans and efforts for the Venezuelan cocoa sector, but apparently the results are faded away because they do not row in the same direction…<\/strong><\/p>\n

-We are now experiencing an impulse of cocoa farming in Venezuela. However, as long as the efforts are isolated, we cannot expect the best results. This should be a team work, since this is the only way we could make cocoa production a profitable activity to provide important income for the country.<\/p>\n

– How many germplasm banks do you think you need?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It is difficult to give an exact answer. Only in the Plan Cacao Sur del Lago we have been requested a million plants even though we do not cover all the producers. This is an aspect to be analysed, as many others, in order to know the number of germplasm banks and nurseries required. We may respond this, I repeat, through a cocoa project with well-defined policies and strategies in short, medium and long terms.<\/p>\n

– Are other regions so interested in Venezuelan cocoa?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Our cocoa is very coveted in the world mainly by gourmet chocolate makers, thanks to its quality of aromas, intense and light bitter fruity flavours that assure a special touch to different chocolates and bonbons in the planet.<\/p>\n

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First thing first\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The producer must be placed first. Otherwise the chocolate will be in risk. Portillo recommends that post-harvest handling protocols are adjusted according to the soil and climatic conditions of each zone.<\/p>\n

–You are one of those women who go to work in the fields, to go through cocoa communities to talk with their protagonists … How do you feel getting ready to walk along a fertile soil?<\/strong><\/p>\n

– I think about what I always say: Without cocoa farmers there is no chocolate. In this way I feel that I am ready to do my bit to help the first link in the chain which is the producer. And “knowing the producer helps me to sensitize myself to the product and its people, to experience their problems and thus to establish the proper paths to boost the seed and its protagonists. I am a technical researcher, but who really knows what happens in the field is the producer”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

– Taking into account that field experience, what practices should we change to improve?<\/strong><\/p>\n

-We must adjust our post-harvest handling protocols according to the soil science climatic conditions of each zone. Although it is true that there are standardised protocols, my practice in the field has shown me that these protocols have to be related to soil science climate conditions, which is not done despite it contributes to maintain the quality of our cocoa. The soil science climatic conditions are important because the evolution of processes like fermentation or drying depend on them. Thus taking these into account certain protocols could or could not be applied. This means that based on these conditions it will be necessary to adjust the protocol so that, for example, the fermentation is the correct or adequate one.<\/p>\n

– What is the first advice you give a producer when you have the opportunity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The first advice I give is to stop seeing his production unit as a simple plot and start seeing it as a company. In this sense, it is necessary to promote a change in his attitude. Producers must have an administrative control of their farm in all aspects so that its activity is profitable and sustainable. Having this profile of producer, the relay generation would feel more motivated to continue with the activity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Besides being her second house, for Andreina Portillo the fields are a school that never finishes teaching her the dynamic cocoa world. The researcher does not stop recalling that without cocoa farmers there is no chocolate. For her, a change in the producer\u2019s mind is the key for strengthening the Venezuelan product.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Juan Pablo Crespo Photos: Liliana El\u00edas For her the field has something magical, inspiring … something as the English poet William Cowper said: “God made the countryside, and man the city.” As the countryside is her second home, talking to her on the phone is not just a piece of cake. Deep inside a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5610,"featured_media":9305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_joinchat":[]},"categories":[30],"tags":[242,84,54,243,153],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivaelcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}