07/04/09

Scientists pin cacao virus hopes on resistant tree strains

Vulnerable to the virus? Pods on a cacao tree Copyright: Flickr/StrudelMonkey

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Scientists pin cacao virus hopes on resistant tree strains</h1>
<h4></h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><span>Researchers are racing to tackle a virus that threatens to shrink global chocolate supplies and destroy the livelihoods of thousands of West African smallholders.</span></p>
<p><span>The cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) — which can kill the cacao tree, from whose seeds chocolate is made — threatens to cut this year’s spring crop by a third in the Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s biggest producer. It originated in native African trees and is spread by common mealy bugs.</span></p>
<p><span>Spread of the disease is promoted by African farmers who cannot afford fertiliser and so boost production by planting more of the Amazon-native trees over a larger area — cutting down other species of tree that grow in between and creating a monoculture that promotes the spread of disease.</span></p>
<p><span>Previously, the only solution has been to destroy millions of infected trees. But researchers at the West African Cacao Research Institute in Tafo, Ghana, have discovered partially disease-resistant varieties of the tree and are currently trying to breed more resistant strains.</span></p>
<p><span>This is a lengthy process so, at the US Department of Agriculture in Miami, Florida, scientists are mapping genes for CSSV resistance. They are hoping that this will eventually result in a "testing kit" for African researchers to ensure that only resistant seedlings are planted.</span></p>
<div>
<p><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227033.500-chocolate-eggs-under-growing-threat-from-witches-broom.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to full article in <em>New Scientist</em></a></p>
<p> </p>
</div>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/scientists-pin-cacao-virus-hopes-on-resistant-tree/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/scientists-pin-cacao-virus-hopes-on-resistant-tree/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

Researchers are racing to tackle a virus that threatens to shrink global chocolate supplies and destroy the livelihoods of thousands of West African smallholders.

The cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) — which can kill the cacao tree, from whose seeds chocolate is made — threatens to cut this year’s spring crop by a third in the Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s biggest producer. It originated in native African trees and is spread by common mealy bugs.

Spread of the disease is promoted by African farmers who cannot afford fertiliser and so boost production by planting more of the Amazon-native trees over a larger area — cutting down other species of tree that grow in between and creating a monoculture that promotes the spread of disease.

Previously, the only solution has been to destroy millions of infected trees. But researchers at the West African Cacao Research Institute in Tafo, Ghana, have discovered partially disease-resistant varieties of the tree and are currently trying to breed more resistant strains.

This is a lengthy process so, at the US Department of Agriculture in Miami, Florida, scientists are mapping genes for CSSV resistance. They are hoping that this will eventually result in a "testing kit" for African researchers to ensure that only resistant seedlings are planted.

Link to full article in New Scientist