Research Update: october 2009

 

Robert D. Lumsden, Plant Pathologist and WCF Scientific Advisor

 

 

world cocoa foundation

 

The WCF Partnership Meeting was held on October 14-15, 2009 in Brussels, Belgium.  The following research oriented sessions were held:

Roundtable #1 Bringing Science to the Field:Applied Science and Extension

 

New Initiatives in Cocoa Science

 

Please click here to access all presentations.

 

reminder: applications for the cocoa borlaug fellows program

Mexico:

The application information for the Cocoa Borlaug Fellows Program for Mexico is now posted at the following link. Please forward this announcement information to scientists, economists, extension agents, or research institutes that may be interested in the Fellows Program.
Note that only nationals of Mexico are eligible at this time. Follow the instructions to submit applications to USDA and note the extended application deadline for the 2009 Borlaug Fellows Program Global Cocoa Initiative for Mexico is November 30, 2009.

 

CAFTA-Dominican Republic:
The application information for the Cocoa Borlaug Fellows Program for the CAFTA-Dominican Republic is now posted at the following link. Please forward this announcement information to scientists, economists, extension agents, or research institutes that may be interested in the Fellows Program.
Note that only nationals of Central America and the Dominican Republic are eligible at this time. Follow the instructions to submit applications to USDA and note the extended application deadline for the 2009 Borlaug Fellows Program Global Cocoa Initiative for the CAFTA-Dominican Republic is November 30, 2009.

 

RESEARCH GROUPS

 

From Ricardo Goenaga,  Research Leader / Location Coordinator, USDA-ARS Tropical Agriculture Research Station.

Website.  Cacao genetic resources research at the USDA-ARS Tropical AgricultureResearch Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. [Also, see publication below].

The current USDA-ARS Tropical Agriculture Research Station’s cacao (Theobroma cacao) collection consists of 154 clonally propagated accessions.  Each accession is represented by six individual trees grafted on Amelonado rootstocks and planted in a completely randomized block design with three blocks and two trees per block.  The collection was established in 2001 with a spacing of 2 meters between plants and rows in full sun.  Data being collected include: production, disease resistance, pod index, liquor and chocolate qualities and phenotypic traits such as pod length and width, pod weight, shell weight, shape, color and number of seeds per pod.  All 924 trees in the entire germplasm collection were fingerprinted using a high throughput genotyping system with 15 microsatellite loci.  Intra-plant error (mislabeling among multiple trees within the same accession) and synonymous sets (accessions that have identical fingerprint profiles but different names) were identified.  The average number of alleles and gene diversity estimates indicate good genetic diversity representation in this collection. A distance-based cluster analysis showed that the cacao accessions in this collection can be classified into four distinct clusters, with their geographical origins covering most of the cacao growing regions in the Americas.  Several genetic gaps were identified, including under-represented genetic populations, and efforts are currently under way to introduce approximately 60 accessions into the collection once released from quarantine.  Fingerprint profiles for cacao accessions as well as voucher images showing flowers, pod shape, color, texture and size as well as beans shape color and size for all accession have been loaded and are available through the USDA, National Plant Germplasm System, Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) database with production, disease resistance and phenotypic data coming online in the near future.  Other research with cacao includes a field experiment to compare field performance of 12 cacao varieties propagated by grafting or somatic embryogenesis.  This experiment was established in 2003 in an Ultisol soil as a split-plot design with five replications.  Three years of data have been collected so far.  Cacao research is closely tied with programs at USDA-ARS in Miami, Florida (Dr. Raymond  Schnell) and Penn State University (Dr. Mark Guiltinan). Please click here to read the research article.

 

From Désiré Pokou, PhD, molecular geneticist,  Centre National de Recherche Agronomique Laboratoire Central de Biotechnologie.  

"The news is difficult but unfortunately true;  Dr. N'Goran Jeanne, one of our scientist died this night. May god receive her soul in his kingdom.   From Frances L. Bekele, Joint Ag. Head & Research Fellow, The Cocoa Research Unit, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago: This is very shocking news.  Jeanne was with us in March at the RSCE2 Meeting in Trinidad and was as dynamic as ever.  She has left an indelible legacy for us in the cocoa community and will be missed not only for her scientific contributions but also for her warmth and vitality.  May she rest in peace.  Please convey our condolences to her family and colleagues at CNRA."

From Sona Ebai, Secretary General/COPAL. 

"On behalf of the Cocoa Producers' Alliance (COPAL) and the entire Secretariat here in Lagos, Nigeria, I would like to express the shock and sadness when Dr. Coulibaly called me in Ghana to inform me the day after Desire, attending the same meeting in Accra had told me she was in hospital.  It is a pity that the millions of farmers she helped to improve their productivity, efficiency and quality through her work may never have even heard of her as they enjoy her intellect through the results on their farms. That I am sure will be indelible.  Our condolences go to her family, her family at CNRA and the wider family in the world cocoa economy."

 

announcement

 

From Prakash K. Hebbar  National Program Manager, USDA-APHIS-PPQ,  Emergency & Domestic Programs.

Frosty Pod Rot of cacao in Latin America. October 31, 2009. As a result of the International Cocoa Congress, the Colombian National Cocoa Growers Federation (Fedecacao) announced that in the coming days it would sign an agreement to advise Brazil and Mexico on the transfer of technology and provide training for the control and management of frosty pod rot or moniliasis disease, caused by Moniliophthora rorei.  While the disease is not ordinarily encountered in Brazil, it has been detected less than 50 km [31 mi] from the cocoa growing region of the state of Para.  Source: El Tiempo [in Spanish, trans. & summ. Corr.SB, edited].

 

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