Makassar, Indonesia, Sept 17 - Indonesia's cocoa output is likely to fall 5 percent to 456,000 tonnes in 2009 as the country struggles to contain a deadly fungal disease, the chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Association said on Tuesday.
The estimated fall in output would come on top of the forecast drop of 7.7 percent in 2008 blamed on the spread of Vascular-streak Dieback (VSD) in the main growing island of Sulawesi, said Halim Razak.
"It's going to fall slightly by around 5 percent because no significant actions have been taken," he told Reuters in an interview in Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi and Indonesia's key cocoa export port.
Indonesia, the world's third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, is struggling to combat the fungal disease, which attacks branches, leaves and tree trunks. Concerns about the size of the crop size and quality of in Ivory Coast and Indonesia have propelled cocoa prices to their highest in more than 20 years this year.
The VSD is another blow to the cocoa industry in Indonesia, which has been battling another disease, cocoa pod borer,since 1980s. Pod borer is a worm-like pest that feeds on cocoa beans.
The Indonesian government has earmarked around $340 million for replanting and rehabilitation of cocoa trees in Sulawesi within the next three years but it has yet to come up with details on how it will be implemented.
"It's still not clear what the government intends to do or how to do it," said Razak.
"The government has to send field workers to train farmers, especially on how to deal with the VSD," he said, adding that for the time being, farmers were encouraged to trim branches affected the disease to minimise the spread.
Indonesia has about 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of cocoa trees, of which about 600,000 hectares are located on Sulawesi island.
The VSD has spread to about 60 percent of plantations in Sulawesi, which accounts for 75 percent of Indonesia's cocoa output.
The disease reduced the arrivals of beans to Makassar port from plantations in South Sulawesi and the neighbouring provinces of Central and Southeast Sulawesi in recent months, said Razak.
Exports from Makassar dropped 9.5 percent to 103,344 tonnes in January to August this year compared with the same period last year. Exports stood at 181,122 tonnes in 2007, down from 220,185 tonnes in 2006, said Razak.
"Exports have dropped because of pod borer and VSD. Farmers barely have the knowledge on how to deal with the VSD," he said.
Indonesia sells cocoa beans to grinders in Asia, Europe and United States.