PCIEERD-DOST Form No. 2B
DETAILED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL
(For the Component Project)
(To be accomplished by the researcher)
(1) Title/Leader/Gender/Agency/Address/Telephone/Fax/Email
Project Title: MCU-Based Cocoa Bean EFDS (Extracting-Fermentation-Drying-Sorting) Machine for Small-Scale Cacao Farms
Leader: Jonell V. Ocampo, MT
Gender: Male
Implementing Agency: Cavite State University-Carmona Campus
Telephone: 09063924505
Fax:
Address: Market Road, Brgy. Maduya, Carmona, Cavite
Email: jonell_ocampo@yahoo.com.ph
Co-Implementing Agencies:
1
N/A
2.
(2) Cooperating Agencies
1. N/A
2.
Address:
(3) Research & Development Station / Location
Calabarzon (Region 4-A)
(4) Site of Implementation/Municipality/District/Province/Region (Geographic Coverage Area)
Alfonso, Cavite
(5) Classification
Research:
☐ Basic
☐ Applied
☐ Developmental
(6) Sector/Discipline
Development:
☐Pilot Testing
☐Tech. Promotion
☐Commercialization
☐Food
☐Energy
☐Environment
☐Disaster Risk Reduction
☐Process
☐Mining & Minerals
☐Metals & Engineering
☐Construction
☐Transportation
☐Biotechnology
☐Genomics
☐Material Science
☐Electronics
☐ICT
☐Photonics Technology
☐Space Technology Application
☐Nano Technology
(7) Rationale/Significance
In the Philippines, Cacao is one of the priority commodities of the Department of Agriculture.
According to Agriculture Secretary Procesco Alcala, it is included in the top 20 priorities of agricultural
commodities in the provision of production assistance under the World Bank and assisted by the
Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP). Other commodities that would be covered by the
program are coffee, temperate vegetables, rice, banana, mango, peanut, seaweed, pineapple, onion,
coconut, calamansi, sugar, rubber, cassava, corn, abaca, oil palm, poultry and livestock (The Philippine
Star, September 6, 2014).
In addition, during the first Region III Kakao Konek Congress held at San Fernando,
Pampanga last August 1, 2016, Agriculture Secretary Manny F. Piñol assures that support will be
provided to the thriving sector of cacao industry stakeholders, to enable farmers earn a decent income
and compete with other ASEAN nations. In his message, Piñol also announced that the government
will provide technical and financial assistance and steady markets for locally grown products
(Department of Agriculture, August 2016).
Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a small evergreen tree which means “food of the gods”. The
discoverers of cocoa, the Mayans, named it as such, from the word Kak Kow, meaning “God Food.”
The tree’s seeds called cocoa beans are primarily used to make cocoa mass, cocoa powder, and
chocolate. The products are distributed for food consumption and business undertakings of various
sorts, branching from small households to large chocolate corporations. For the longest time, cacao
has been introduced and considered as a high-valued crop and commodity in the world market. Not
only is it used for food consumption, but it also exhibits great potential for business and market profit
(Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao Inc.).
Cacao has an increasing demand in the local and global market. For instance, cacao is an
important cash crop for producing countries and a key import for processing and consuming countries.
Cocoa producing countries are unable to fulfil the growing demand for cocoa products worldwide,
especially chocolate. The Philippines itself is a net importer of cocoa products with annual consumption
equivalent to 50,000 MT of dried cocoa beans. According to Philippine Cacao Trade Performance of
2014, the total import of the country is 102.3 million US dollars while the total export is only 24.3 million
US dollars. It is also projected that by 2020, the Philippines chocolate industry’s demand is expected to
reach an estimated 100,000 metric tons of dried cocoa beans which would translate to 50-70 million
trees and 120-150 thousand hectares of land. In the world market, demand for cocoa beans is
projected to reach 4.7M to 5M in 2020 with average annual deficit of 100,000 MT (Department of
Agriculture-PRDP, November 2014).
In order to produce a good quality cacao beans, standard practices specially in harvesting and
post-harvest process must be considered. This includes harvesting of cocoa pods, splitting and
extracting cacao beans from its pod, fermentation, drying and sorting (International Cocoa
Organization, April 2012).
However, there is a decline in the yield of cacao production from 2013 to 2014. One of the
reasons is the quality issue. Many farmers are aware that fermented beans are better, however with
less attractive financial incentives to take on added costs including labor, and to pull off immediate
income as the fermentation process takes between five to six days plus several more days for drying,
they generally do not ferment the beans. Another quality issue is related to sorting beans. The most
commonly available grade of beans from farmers is all-in which involves minimal if any sorting, due in
part to finding a market for substandard beans (Ramos, J., May 2016).
Through these problems, the proponent had come up with the idea to develop a machine that
can assure cacao beans to undergo the required post-harvest processes in order to meet a quality
product. The proposed device entitled “MCU-Based Cacao Bean EFDS (Extraction-FermentationDrying-Sorting) Machine” will be composed of cacao bean extracting module, fermentation and drying
chamber, and sorting mechanism.
(8) Objectives
The main objective of the study is to develop a MCU-Based Cacao Bean EFDS Machine that
can produce good quality dried cacao beans.
Specifically, the study aims to:
1. construct an effective cacao pods extracting machine;
2. construct a fermentation and mixing chamber;
3. construct a cacao bean drying machine;
4. evaluate the performance of the prototype using a standard evaluation instrument; and
utilize the developed machine to a small-scale cacao farm
(9) Description
The proposed study will be composed of extracting mechanism, fermentation and drying
chamber, and sorting mechanism with the integration of Microcontroller Unit (MCU) modules that will
be use for sensing, controlling and monitoring process to ensure a good quality dried cacao beans.
The design of the machine will be intended only for small-scale cacao farms that has the
capacity of the average production in each farm. It can be replicated and mass produced once
completed and tested.
(10) Review of Literature
Harvesting involves removing ripe pods from the trees and opening them to extract the wet
beans. The pods are harvested manually by making a clean cut through the stalk with a well sharpened
blade. The best way of opening the pods is to use a wooden club which, if it strikes the central area of
the pod, causes it to split into two halves; it is then easy to remove the wet beans by hand. A cutting
tool, such as a machete, is often used to split the pod, though this can damage the beans. Some
machinery has been developed for pod opening, but smallholders in general carry out the process
manually. After extraction from the pod, the beans undergo a fermentation and drying process before
being bagged for delivery. The length of fermentation varies depending on the bean type, Forastero
beans require about 5 days and Criollo beans 2-3 days. Cocoa beans are dried after fermentation in
order to reduce the moisture content from about 60% to about 7.5%. Drying must be carried out
carefully to ensure that off-flavorous are not developed (International Cocoa Organization, April 2012).
The total number of pods at each harvest on each farm was recorded and the quantity of good
pods was separated from the bad pods. During the process of pod breaking, bad pods as well as pods
which contained bad beans were separated from the good pods. The good beans obtained from the
good pods were weighed and the wet weight determined. Beans were fermented for six days or four
days depending on the method of fermentation, after which beans were sun dried on raffia mat. The
cocoa beans were sun dried for about fourteen days depending on the weather conditions. The dried
beans were weighed and the dry weight determined after which beans were bagged and sold. The
control experiment was done by selecting a number of good and healthy pods only, depending on the
harvest obtained. The pods were broken and the beans obtained from these pods weighed. The beans
were fermented for six days after which they were sun dried (Amoah, Angela, August 2013).
According to Levai L.D., Meriki H.D., Adiobo A., Awa-Meng S., Akoachere J.F. and Titanji V. of
2015, cocoa farming is an activity of the middle aged with 70 % of farmers in the age group 31–50.
More than 80 % of the farmers are married and have attended school to at least junior secondary. The
farms are mostly self-owned with, 85 % less than 5Ha. The majority (62 %) have been under cultivation
for more than 10 years. Cocoa farming in study area is a tradition and results show that they learned
farming practices mainly from their family (43 %) or friends (34 %).
Development and performance evaluation of a Cocoa beans batch dryer were carried out. The
results of the performance using locally available wood as heat source showed that the dryer dried
20kg of fermented cocoa beans from initial moisture content of 80.01% to 7.49% in 7 hours. The
0
average drying chamber temperature was 61.4 C and over 90% even drying efficiency was obtained.
The efficiency increases as the mass of cocoa beans increases per batch. The short period of drying
cocoa beans suggests that this dryer is a good substitute for open sun-drying method especially when
the insulation from sun is low because it does not depend on weather. No doubt, the dryer will help to
boost cocoa production for agricultural advancement of the country (Komolafe C.A, Adejumo A.O.D,
Awogbemi O. and Adeyeye A.D., 2014)
The drying experiments were carried out at Padang Institute of Technology, West Sumatra,
Indonesia. As much as 48 kg with the moisture content of cocoa beans of 67% wet basis in the dryer
was reduced the moisture content to 8.6% wet basis needed 20 hours whereas the moisture content of
cocoa beans was reduced to 26 % wet basis using open sun drying in the same period. The minimum,
maximum and average the drying rate was estimated of about 0.12 kg/h, 2.91 kg/h, and 1.31 kg/h,
respectively. The minimum, maximum, and average of the thermal efficiency of dryer were estimated of
about 4.39%, 37.79%, and 19.87%, respectively. The drying of cocoa beans has two the drying periods
namely, the constant drying rate period and the falling rate period. Result shows that this dryer is
capable of drying cocoa beans quickly because of the high drying rate. Also, The quality of cocoa
beans in terms of color using dryer were better than using open sun drying, because the short drying
time, the products have no contamination with dust, dirt and other pollutants (Yahya, M., 2016).
Its components include the frame, the hammer, shafts, rope, bearings, pulleys, rail, catch tray
or collector and covers. The frame holds other major components in position. It is made of 38 x 38 x
3mm angle iron welded together. The hammer is a solid iron of 380 x 380 x 10mm dimension. Bearings
of diameter 30 mm are fitted on the shafts and the shafts are permanently placed on the hammers
edges to aid the linear motion of the hammer via the guide or slot. An anchor is provided at the center
of the hammer for the rope to fit in. Pulleys of diameter 80 mm are aligned on two parallel shafts at the
top of the machine. A rope is tied to the hammer and runs over the pulleys. It has adequate contact
with the pulley. This allows easy sliding and pulling up of the hammer. The rail is made of wellarranged flat bars. It assists in the breaking the pods and serves as sieve for the broken materials. The
collecting tray is made of sheet metal and it is inclined at 55o, equivalent to the angle of repose of the
material. The body of the machine is covered with sheet metal. Result showed the total time required to
effect the breaking of the pods is relatively low, with a maximum record of 6.06 seconds. Therefore, it
should be preferable to use the 13.12 kg hammer and drop the hammer several times versus
increasing its weight and reducing the depodding time. This is essential to minimize the percentage
seed damage. The seed damage recorded during the machine testing was less than 1%, which is
advantageous to the subsequent processes and the quality of the final product. Increasing the hammer
height or weight is likely to increase the impact on the pods and seeds. Consequently, the percentage
seed damage will increase. Therefore, it seems appropriate and recommendable to use a hammer
height and weight of 50.3 cm and 13.12 kg respectively for impact cocoa pod breaker. Equally, the size
of pods did not affect the number of pods broken. This is likely because the hammer, with a square
surface, is a uniformly distributed load. It exhibited a uniform impact on the pods. The efficiency of the
machine ranged between 85 and 100%. For 1 and 2 pods, irrespective of the size of the pods, the
efficiency was 100%. But, for 3 and 4 pods, the efficiency was reduced. Therefore, reducing the
number of pods translates to very high efficiency. Machine capacity generally increased with the
number of pods loaded. Also, the big pods generally recorded the highest machine capacity,
irrespective of the number of pods loaded. The best result was obtained the when the number of big
-1
pods was 2 which had a record of 0.34% seed damage, 100% efficiency and 738 kg capacity
(Adewumi, B. A. and Fatusin A. B., 2006)
The machine comprises a rectangular container (1) constructed with simple material of light
plywood
or
thin
galvanized
plates.
The
tentative
size
of
the
container
is4mwideby6mlongand2mhigh.Thecontaineris partitioned into five (5) tentative compartments (2), the
width of which is just about 2 cm larger than the average diameter of the cross-section of the middle
part of the pods. The height of the partitions is about 15 cm lower than that of the container. The
container is also inclined at about 30o to the horizontal. This is so because when the cocoa pods are
dumped into the container they should find their ways into the various partitions and align themselves
in these partitions. They then move gradually under gravity along the inclined paths into corresponding
cavities (3) placed just below the level of that end of the container towards which the pods move. To
facilitate this downward movement of the cocoa pods a light vibration mechanism is attached to the
container to give it intermittent vibrations. The inside of these cavities are provided with some sharp
projections to hold the cocoa pods in position and in check. The width of the frame of the cavities is
shorter than the full length of the pods. This is so because both ends of the pods, where the placentas
of the cocoa pods are located, will be projected outwards along these cavities. At that position the
placentas of the cocoa pods, by the action of the hydraulic mechanism (4), are slashed simultaneously
by a pair of knives (7) fixed at the positions at the end of the pods where the placentas are located.
Figure 8 shows an array of five tentative cocoa pod placenta slashing (chopping - off) knives, and Fig.
9 shows a complete assembly of these knives with the frame. Also Fig. 10 shows the knives “chopping
- off” the ends of the cocoa pods. The slashed placentas fall into another container (6) placed below
these cavities, the longitudinal ends of which are left open to let the slashed placentas drop. After
slashing the placentas, the knives will move up from the pods by means of the hydraulic mechanism
(4), acting in the opposite direction of that of the slashing. By the action of another hydraulic
mechanism (5) the pods are now split open along the sides by another pair of knives (8) (one on each
side of the pod). Figure 12 shows the cocoa pod splitting knives with the frame. After the splitting
sideways the bottom parts of the half-split pods are turned downward through an obtuse angle (not less
than 90o), by means of spring mechanism (hidden) for the beans to drop by gravity into another
container (9), linked to the other container (6) by a middle container (10) to serve as a buffer and which
has been shifted by a lever mechanism (11) to the position formerly occupied by the previous container
(6), while the other half parts are held in position by the splitting knives. The empty half pieces of the
cocoa pods are then brought together again by means of the same spring mechanism (that turned
them through the obtuse angle) and are also let to drop into container (6), which is now pushed back to
occupy its former position, from where the container (9) for the beans has just withdrawn. The
container (6) will remain at this position to collect another set of the slashed placentas before
withdrawing for the container (9 ) to also move in again to collect another set of the cocoa beans.
These two containers, (6) and (9) are linked together in such a way that as one is withdrawing from the
position the other comes to occupy the same position for the alternate collection of the cocoa beans
and the empty pods to repeat the process. The empty cocoa pods are collected and used as raw
material for generation of power, for the production of other byproducts of cocoa, and the soot of the
burnt husks can be used for the preparation of soap (Adzimah S.K. and Asiam E.K., 2010).
(11) Scientific Basis/Theoretical Framework
(12) Methodology/Strategies of Implementation
(13) Major Activities/Workplan (Description of specific activities and/or methods to be undertaken and estimated time linefor
each task. Enumerate in chronological order the tasks to be undertaken. Use work plan. See PCIEERD-DOST Form 2B-1.
Indicate post project sustainability plans, if needed).
(14) Expected Output/s
(15) Expected Outcome/s
(16) Proposed Measure to Address Implementing Issues and Gaps
(17) Target Beneficiaries
(18) Personnel Requirement/s
Percent time devoted to the Project
Program/Project Leader:
Others: Project Staff
Consultant
100%
100%
10%
(19) Budget Requirement
Budget per Component:
Component
Year1
Year2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Total
Year2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Total
Total
Cost Structure per Expense Class:
Expense
Year1
Class
PS
MOOE
CO
Total
Please fill up in addition to PCIEERD-DOST FORM 2B-2. Make sure the data is consistent with the PCIEERD-DOST FORM 2B-2
(20) Literature Cited
Adewumi B.A. and Fatusin A.B. (2006). Design, Fabrication and Testing of an Impact-Type
Hand Operated Cocoa Pod Breaker. Department of Food Science and Technology,
Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria.
Adzimah S.K. and Asiam E.K. (2010). Design of a Cocoa Pod Splitting Machine. Research
Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology. Maxwell Scientific
Organization, 2010.
Amoah, A. (2013). Determination of Postharvest Losses in Cocoa from Harvest to the Depot.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. West Africa
Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao Inc. (2016) Retrieved
October 10, 2016 from http://www.cidami.org/about-cacao/
Camu N., De Winter T., Addo, S. K., Takrama, J., Bernaert H and Vuyst, L. (2008).
Fermentation of cocoa beans: influence of microbial activities and polyphenol
concentrations on the flavor of chocolate. Department of Applied Biological Sciences and
Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Department of Agriculture. (2016, August 2). DA supports cacao. Retrieved October 10, 2016,
from
http://www.da.gov.ph/index.php/media-resources/photo-releases/2016-photorelease/8123-da-supports-cacao
Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project. (2014, November). Value
Chain Analysis and Competitiveness Strategy: Cocoa Bean Mindanao. Retrieved
October
10,
2016
from
http://drive.daprdp.net/iplan/vca/Cacao%20Beans%20VCA%20(MINDANAO%20CLUST
ER).pdf
International Cocoa Organization. (2012, April 3). Retrieved October 10, 2016, from
http://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/harvesting-and-post-harvest.html
Komolafe C.A, Adejumo A.O.D., Awogbemi O. and Adeyeye A.D. (2014). Development of a
cocoa beans batch dryer. American Journal of Engineering Research. Nigeria
Lasisi, D. (2014). A Comparative Study of Effects of Drying Methods on Quality of Cocoa
Beans. Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Oyo State College
of Agriculture, Igboora
Levai L.D., Meriki H.D., Adiobo A., Awa-Meng S., Akoachere J.F. and Titanji V. (2015).
Postharvest practices and farmers’ perception of cocoa bean quality in Cameroon.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Montgomery, J. and Parducci R. (2013). Process for producing cacao puree of high purity yield.
United
States
of
America.
Retrieved
October
10,
2016
from
http://www.patentsencyclopedia.com/imgfull/20130316056_01
Ramos, J. (2016, May 12). Defining competitiveness in the Philippines’ cacao industry.
Retrieved
October
10,
2016
from
http://industry.gov.ph/wpcontent/uploads/2016/08/Cacao-Industry-by-Josephine-Ramos-Chair-Cacao-IndustryDevelopment-Sub-committee-DA-PCAF.pdf
The Philippine Star. (2014, September 6). DA prioritizes 20 high value crops.
Retrieved
October 10, 2016, from http://www.philstar.com/business/2014/09/06/1365785/daprioritizes-20-high-value-crops
Yahya, M. (2016). Experimental Study on a Solar Tunnel Heat Pump Dryer for Cocoa Beans.
Contemporary Engineering Sciences, Vol. 9, 2016, no. 7, 325 – 336. Copyright 2016,
Creative Commons Attribution License
(21) Information About Applicant and Organization
Note: If the project is part of a program, this form should be submitted together with detailed R & D
proposal for the whole program. See guidelines/definitions at the back.
DOST Form No. 2B
DETAILED R & D PROPOSAL
(For the Component Project)
General Instruction:
A. Submit a copy of detailed R & D proposal for the whole program together with the detailed proposal of the component
projects either in electronic or printed format.
Operational Definition of Terms
1.Title – the identification of the program and the component projects.
Program - consists of interrelated or complementing R & D projects on a multi-disciplinary approach to meet established
goals within a specific time frame.
Project – a set of interrelated studies to meet pre-determined objective within a specific time frame.
Leader –the one in charge to take the lead in project implementation.
Agency(ies) – the institution(s) of the coordinator/leader.
2. Cooperating Agencies – agencies participating in the R & D work.
3. R & D Station / Location – station or unit where R & D will be actually conducted.
4. Site of Implementation – site where the project will be implemented. Indicate municipality, district, province and
region.
5. Classification – indicates whether the program/project is research or development.
Basic research is an experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying
foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular or specific application or use in view.
Applied research is an original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge directed primarily towards
aspecific aim or objective.
Developmental research is a systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical
experience that is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, installing new processes, systems and services and
improving substantially those already produced or installed.
Pilot Testing is an innovative work to confirm and demonstrate the feasibility of actually using a technology; gauging end
user’s reaction to introduction of improved technologies and identifying potential problems related to wider dissemination, utilization
and adoption so that these can be fed back to researchers.
Technology promotion/commercialization is an activity involving application of technologies on a commercial scale by
an identified entrepreneur or user primarily to increase his income/profits and productivity; technologies utilized/produced on a precommercial scale including market testing jointly undertaken with a client.
6. Sector / Discipline –
7.Rationale/Significance - State the research problem and significance of the project to the current needs of the country.
A typical justification would include a brief introduction, a general statement concerning the historical basis for R & D, utilization of
the expected output and the impact the information generated will have on science, the target users and the country.)
8.Objectives - Statement of the specific purpose to address the problem areas of the project. If possible, indicate
general and specific objectives.
9. Description - concise explanation of the project
10. Review of Related Literature - Related researches/activities which have been conducted. State-of-the-art of current
technology/information from which the project proposal will take-off
11. Scientific Basis/Theoretical Framework - Include concepts, theories and variables that indicate relevant
relationships to be tested.
12.Methodology/Strategies of Implementation - Approach on how the associated work products, processes,
information and services will be implemented, developed and acquired. Details such as: a) variables to be measured and
evaluated; b) treatments to be used and their layout; c) experimental procedures and design; d) statistical analysis; e) evaluation
method and observations to be made, strategies for implementation.
13. Major Activities/Workplan
14. Expected Output/s - The term "Output" means an activity, effort, and/or deliverables, associated work, product
related to project goals and objectives that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. Outputs may be
quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement-funding period.
15. Expected Outcome/s
16. Proposed Measure to Address Implementing Issues and Gaps
17. Target Beneficiaries – who the clienteles are and what are the expected outcome/effects of the use of the project outputs
18. Personnel Requirement – personnel requirement of the project indicating designation and percent time devoted to the project.
Specify the role and involvement in the program/project
19. Budget Breakdown ­– itemized budgetary requirement per quarter for the first year of implementation and annual budget in the
succeeding years. Form should be accomplished for each source and for total.
20. Literature Cited – an alphabetical list of reference materials (books, journals and others) reviewed. Use standard system for
citation.
21. Information about Applicant and Organization – Attach CVs of project leader and team members. Provide descriptionof roles
in the project implementation. Provide information of organization's experience and/or track record in carrying outsimilar project.