A rapidly spreading virus threatens the health of cocoa trees and dried seeds in the countries of West Africa, including Ivory Coast and Ghana. About 50% of the world’s chocolate production comes from there, putting the global supply of the world’s most popular treat at risk.
The damaging pathogen affects cocoa trees in Ghana, resulting in harvest losses ranging from 15% to 50%. It spreads through small insects known as Pseudococcidae, Homoptera, which feed on flowers and leaves. The disease caused by this cocoa swollen-shoot virus (CSSVD) is one of the most damaging threats to the key ingredient of chocolate.
CSSVD was first observed in the eastern region of Ghana in 1936 by a farmer, and its viral nature was confirmed in 1939, but in recent years, it has multiplied.
“This virus poses a real threat to the global chocolate supply,” said Professor Benito Chen-Charpentier of the University of Texas at Arlington and author of the study in the journal PLOS One titled “Cacao sustainability: The case of cacao swollen-shoot virus co-infection.”
“Pesticides do not work well against these viruses, leaving farmers to try to prevent the spread of the disease by cutting down infected trees and propagating resistant trees. However, despite these efforts, Ghana has lost more than 254 million cocoa trees in recent years,” he warned.
Chen-Charpentier and his colleagues from the University of Kansas, Prairie View A&M, the University of South Florida, and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana have developed a new strategy: using mathematical data to determine how far apart farmers can plant vaccinated trees to prevent Pseudococcidae, Homoptera from jumping from one tree to another and transmitting the virus.
