The Birim Central Municipal Cocoa Officer, Mr. Albert Akomaning, has called for regulation and control of activities of cocoa purchasing companies.
"The desire of some of the companies to buy even 'not thoroughly dried' beans had caused the increase in the stealing of the beans in most cocoa growing areas".
Mr. Akomaning, who was speaking in an interview with the GNA, appealed to cocoa farmers who benefited from fertilisers to pay for them to enable others also to benefit from the scheme.
He advised farmers to clear their farms before spraying the cocoa trees in order to have a high yield, adding that swollen shoot disease was hampering the efforts of cocoa farmers.
Mr Akomaning appealed to traditional authorities to educate cocoa farmers to allow their infested cocoa trees to be cut down for replanting.
He said if diseased cocoa trees were not cut down they could infect other trees.