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'''Sambirano is an area in the north west Madagascar, which is especially known for the production of high quality cocoa, also known as the "green gold" of Sambirano. The name also refers to the Sambirano River that flows from the [[Tsaratanana Massif]], (the highest peak of the island, ) and into the Ampasindava Bay where it joins with Ramena river, south of [[Ambanja]].'''
<googlemap version="0.9" lat="-13.688688" lon="48.450737" type="satellite" zoom="12" controls="large">
Due to the proximity of the Tsaratanana mountain range and trade winds, a particular microclimate
occurs in the Sambirano region. During the rainy season, the river floods and deposits extremlyextremely
fertile alluvia along its river banks, which provides ideal conditions for many types of crops, especially cocoa.
All three varieties of cooca grow throughout the year along the river banks of Sambirano, but with two peak seasons: June
and July and , October and November. The river is divided into in two parts, the upper Sambirano (upstream) and the lower Samirano (downstream). <!-- Harvesting between from ... to ... is done along the upstream part and from ... to ... along the downstream part. -->
Malagasy cocoa has special charactaristics characteristics due to the particular climate and soil along the Sambirano river. The total cocoa harvest grown in the region contains about 10 percent Criollo beans (cocoa grown elsewhere usually contain about five percent). Cocoa from Sambirano is especially suited for making top quality, low bitterness dark chocolate and is used for the production of premium quality Malagasy chocolate brands such as [[Chololatiere Chocolaterie Robert]] and [[Cinagra]].
== Further information ==
