AGRICULTURE Minister Ravi Ratiram yearned for TT to return to its glory days of cocoa production, describing it now as a potential goldmine for farmers that can help to diversify the country’s economy. He gave the feature address at the Cocoa Research Centre (CRC) Annual Research and Development Symposium held at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, on May 21. The conference theme was building sustainability and resilience in the cocoa value chain.

Ratiram hailed the CRC’s commitment to research, innovation and sustainability. He said the conference theme resonated deeply with the idea of diversifying the TT economy and strengthening the agricultural value chain.

The minister said was more than just a crop but was also a cultural and economic legacy. He touted TT’s Trinitaro strain, that he said was a hybrid of the Creolo and Forestero strains.