AGROSAVIA transfers technology for cocoa production

• The Nataima Research and Technology Transfer Center (CIT) trains cocoa producers in Tolima.

 

Espinal, Tolima. August 31, 2026. Within the framework of the Tolima Departmental Agricultural Extension Plan – PDEA Tolima (for its Spanish acronym), cocoa producers from the municipalities of Falan, Lerida, Venadillo, Purificación, Suarez, and Natagaima visited AGROSAVIA's Nataima Research and Technology Transfer Center (CIT Nataima), with the interest of participating in the strategy being implemented within the framework of the Cocoa Experience Showcase, the integration of Technological Offers for mango crop management, and the Nation's Germplasm Banks.

The producers expressed their satisfaction and proposed scheduling new in-depth training modules on technical post-harvest management for this and other crops to expand the scope of these technology transfer processes for Tolima's agricultural sector and the region.

The strategy is comprehensive. In the first stage, three weeks ago, a series of training sessions was conducted for adult farmers; this week, training sessions at CIT Nataima are being provided to students from rural educational institutions in the municipality of Coyaima. The objective is to make knowledge accessible to the entire community at its different levels.

As the strategy is ongoing, during the second week of September, the technology transfer process will continue with new groups of cocoa producers, this time from the municipalities of Cunday, Suarez, Ortega, Rovira, and San Antonio.

These training sessions, as well as some of those planned for the near future, seek to enable small-scale producers to implement techniques that allow them to improve the productivity and economic returns of their cocoa crops; likewise, they aim to encourage rural youth to see interesting productive alternatives within their surroundings and turn them into part of their life plans.

For this reason, the technology transfer strategy is experiential. Participants build new knowledge by engaging all their senses; they do not simply listen to a facilitator, but also touch, process, graft, and prune. In short, knowledge is generated by experiencing the process firsthand, with guidance to ensure that each activity is carried out in the best possible way.

Often, a cocoa farmer may obtain good-quality cocoa pods, but during the 10- to 12-day fermentation and drying process, lack of knowledge or carelessness can reduce the quality achieved at harvest and result in the delivery of poorly fermented or contaminated cocoa to the processor or the market in general.

For cocoa producers, whether men or women, the objective is to obtain a high-quality product at harvest and maintain this quality throughout the post-harvest processes to deliver the best possible product to your buyer. However, if you decide to process it, the idea is to use high-quality raw material to produce excellent-quality products.

If you, as a producer, would like to learn more about these topics, please do not hesitate to contact AGROSAVIA's Nataima Research and Technology Transfer Center (CIT Nataima).