pest and disease control

 

The World Cocoa Foundation supports research that aims to address pest and disease issues.  This research is complemented by germplasm and breeding research to identify resistant varieties.

The Issue: The prevalence of pests and diseases are an obstacle to cocoa production and significant source of crop losses in all three cacao-growing regions. The main fungal diseases are black pod, (caused by Phytophthora spp.); witches' broom, (caused by Moniliophthora perniciosa); frosty pod rot - also called moniliasis, (caused by Moniliophthora rorei), and vascular streak dieback, (caused by Oncobasidium theobromae). In West Africa, swollen shoot virus (CSSV) is also common. Pest include capsids and mirids, (Heteroptera in genera Sahlbergella and Distantiella) in West Africa; and cocoa pod borer, (Conopomorpha cramerella) in Southeast Asia. 

Programs Supported:

• Fungal Endophytes Associated with Cacao (Smithsonian Sustainable Cacao Group, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute)

 

Fungal Endophytes Associated with Cacao

Project Dates: Ongoing since 1997

Funding: World Cocoa Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mars Incorporated, Smithsonian Institution, US Department of Agriculture

Research Institute:  Smithsonian Sustainable Cacao Group, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Project Leader: Dr. Edward Allen Herre

Country: Panama

Key Activities:

• The study of fungal endophytes, fungi that live asymptomatically within healthy plant tissue, to ascertain their effects on plant physiology and disease resistance.

 

Significance: The research will form a basis for identifying endophytes for potential use as biocontrols against diseases such as black pod and frosty pod rot.

Recent Papers Published:

Mejía, L.C., E. I. Rojas, Z. Maynard, A. E. Arnold, S.A. Van Bael, G. J. Samuels, N. Robbinsa, and E.A. Herre  (2008)  Endophytic fungi as biocontrol agents of Theobroma cacao pathogens. Biological Control 46: 4-14. (Download PDF: 363KB)

Rojas, E.I., E.A. Herre, L.C. Mejía, P. Chavarri, and G.J. Samuels (2008) Endomelanconium endophyticum, a new Botryosphaeria leaf endophyte from Panama. Mycologia 100(5): 760-775. (Download PDF: 1.74MB)

Van Bael, S.A., M.I. Valencia, E.I.Rojas, E.I., N. Gomez, D.M. Windsor, and E.A. Herre (in press, Biotropica)  Effects of foliar endophytic fungi on the preference and performance of a leaf beetle, Chelymorpha alternans (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). (Download PDF: 92KB)

Mejía, L.C, E.A. Herre, A.J. Singh, V. Singh, N. Vorsa, J. F. White Jr. (in press)  Fungal endophytes: defensive characteristics and its agricultural application. In Defensive Mutualism in Microbial Symbiosis.  J.F. and M. Torres (Eds). Taylor & Francis Group.

Van Bael, S.A., H. Fernandez-Marin, M. Valencia, E.I. Rojas, W.T. Wcislo, and E.A. Herre (in press, Proceedings of the Royal Society) Two fungal symbioses collide: Endophytic fungi are not welcome in leaf-cutting ant gardens.