Industry leaders gathered at a roundtable to discuss the future of cocoa in India, suggesting the launch of a National Mission on Cocoa and the expansion of polyclonal seed gardens. They emphasized the need for a unified policy framework and the development of high-yielding cocoa varieties to reduce the country’s import dependence. Recommendations also included enhancing subsidies, establishing a Centre of Excellence for cocoa, and promoting regional value-creation models.
Key points of discussion involved the rationalization of tax and tariff structures to encourage domestic processing and foreign direct investment. The leaders highlighted the importance of strengthening primary processing infrastructure for cocoa fermentation, drying, and quality stabilization. India, currently meeting only a fraction of its cocoa demand domestically, imports over $866 million worth of cocoa annually.
Additional Commissioner (Horticulture) from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Naveen Kumar Patle, pointed out the challenges faced by cocoa production in India. Meanwhile, the FICCI Task Force on Horticulture Chairperson emphasized the untapped potential of cocoa to enhance farmer incomes and support export-oriented growth. Despite its benefits, cocoa cultivation in India faces obstacles such as limited access to quality planting material and underutilized processing capacity.
