Cocoa Harvesting Machete
notes: label: Description
content: This small machete was used by workers at the Mars Center for Cocoa Science in Itajuipe, Bahia, Brazil. Typically machetes are used for a variety of work from trimming of branches and harvesting pods to opening the pods or fending off snakes.
label: Description
content: Cacao trees, the source of all chocolate, is grown in equatorial regions of Africa, South America, and Asia by about 6.5 million small land owners using simple techniques. But the trees are endangered by diseases such as black pod, witches’ broom, and frosty pod rot. Additionally, the low productivity of the trees helps lock farmers into poverty. The Mars company maintains a research facility in Brazil to improve cacao cultivation techniques and help develop hybrids resistant to disease and improve yields.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of MARS Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.0033.01
label: catalog number
content: 2014.0033.01
label: accession number
content: 2014.0033
objectType: label: Object Name
content: machete
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: black (handle color)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 5/8 in x 13 5/8 in x 7/8 in; 4.1275 cm x 34.6075 cm x 2.2225 cm