Patrick Aculey, an official of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), has advised cocoa farmers to follow the approved method of fermenting and drying of cocoa to enable them produce good quality beans. He said if cocoa were fermented for seven days and dried for 12 days the beans will be of good quality and this will also reduce purple beans in the cocoa. Mr. Aculey gave the advice at a day's rally organised by the Quality Control Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board for cocoa farmers and licensed buying companies in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District at the weekend. He said research by CRIG has revealed that shorter period of fermentation of cocoa beans results in producing higher percentage of purple beans and this has tarnished the image of the cocoa industry. Mr. Aculey said if cocoa is fermented for three day the beans can have 81 percent purple but if fermented for seven days the purple percentage is 15.John Arthur of the Quality Control Division at Breman Asikuma appealed to farmers not to engage children as farmer labourers but should allow them to attend school.Source: GNA