Plantation Crops

We were asked to attend a Monday morning session at the Agriculture Systems Cluster and Plantation Crop area of UP Los Banos. To start off, we were briefed on how Theobroma cacao or Cocoa is made into chocolate tablea at the ASC. We were also taught how to make Coffea sp. into the renowned coffee drinks we have today. We then transferred to the Plantation Crop area to learn about milking a Rubber tree and getting fiber out of Abaca.

Theobroma cacao or Cocoa is the plant in which chocolate and its by-products come from. It is a favorite drink in the Philippines and was even mentioned in one of Dr. Jose Rizal’s novels. It is mostly used as a dessert because even on its own it has this distinct sweet taste. There are three varieties of Cacao available in the Philippines namely, Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario.

Criollo is the best variety for chocolate production, but it is also the most susceptible to sickness. This variety is almost extinct. It has a rough skin that is colored green and red when ripe. The cross section of this type is cylindrical. If you observe its seed, it is almost white.

Forastero is another variety of Cacao. This variety is not as good as Criollo but it will suffice. It has a smooth skin, unlike the Criollo, and it turns purple or dark red when ripe. The cross section of this type is flat. If you observe one end of the fruit, it has a bottleneck. This is another distinguishing factor of the Forastero.

Trinitario is the most produced variety of Cacao. It is a mix between the Criollo and the Foratero, a hybrid in other words. The cross section of this type is ovoid, which may be caused by the Criollo’s being cylindrical and the Forastero’s being flat.

There are two major ways in making cacao. Getting the primary product and getting by-products. The process of getting the primary product is simple. First, when the fruit is mature (which is 170 days after the fruit setting) you will notice color change. When this happens,...