Good agricultural and postharvest handling practices of Cocoa pods in Lombok to meet Cocoa bean quality for the global market

Abstract

Despite being the third-largest cocoa export country globally, the quality of cocoa beans produced in Indonesia, including in West Nusa Tenggara, is low. This paper presents the critical role of good agricultural and postharvest handling practices on local cocoa beans’ quality. This paper’s source of information was obtained from the survey, laboratory trials, and secondary sources. Supporting information was also obtained through reviews of related literature. Good agricultural practice with no chemical application to support sustainable agriculture and postharvest handling practices to produce cocoa pods and cocoa beans that meet the international quality standard is critical. Postharvest handling of the pods, which covered the fresh cocoa beans’ fermentation process, produced a significantly better flavor of the dried cocoa beans. However, these practices have not yet been adopted by farmers in Lombok. Price incentives for the fermented beans may not be promising at the farmer’s level. Another reason is related to the fermentation technology itself, which is not appropriate for small-scale farmers’ conditions. Innovative technology for applying fermentation on the cocoa pods is essential to enhance the technology’s adaption by cocoa farmers.