Published Date: 2008-07-29 09:00:28
Subject: PRO/PL> Black pod, cocoa - Nigeria
Archive Number: 20080729.2311

BLACK POD, COCOA - NIGERIA
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Date: Fri 25 Jul 2008
Source: Bloomberg [edited]
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a1_GyKamdW_M&refer=africa>


Nigeria cocoa belt affected by black pod disease
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Most cases of the fungal disease are in the southeast region, where
the tropical rains are heavier than in the southwest, Robo Adhuze, a
spokesman for the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, which groups farmers,
processors, and traders, said from the cocoa-trading town of Akure.

Wet weather creates mold that spawns the infection and turns cocoa
beans into dust. In the southwest Ondo state, which accounts for as
much as 40 percent of Nigeria's cocoa, some cases have also been
reported, said Bamidele Olamigoke, a farmer and member of the Ondo
Cocoa Farmers' Congress.

With the wet season at its peak and rain falling incessantly in most
of the southern cocoa-growing region, industry officials are
concerned the disease may spread.

Nigeria is the world's 5th largest producer of cocoa after Ivory
Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, and Cameroon.

[Byline: Dulue Mbachu]

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ProMED-mail
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[Black pod (also called _Phytophthora_ pod rot) is the primary fungal
disease affecting cocoa worldwide since the 1920's. There are 3
_Phytophthora_ species mainly found associated with this disease,
depending on the region. The most common species is _P. palmivora_,
which is found worldwide and can cause losses as high as 95 percent
in very humid climates, with every pod affected. The fungi are spread
by insects, mechanical means, plant debris, water, and wind. Multiple
infections from several sources may occur in plantations with
epidemics developing from a series of foci. Consequently, disease
management is difficult and needs an integrated approach using
cultural techniques, fungicides and resistant cultivars. For more
information on black pod disease please see previous ProMED-mail
posts and links listed below.

Maps
Nigeria:
<http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/lgcolor/ngcolor.htm> and
<http://healthmap.org/promed?v=9.6,8.1,5>
Nigerian states:
<http://www.waado.org/nigerdelta/Maps/Nigeria_States.html>

Pictures of black pod symptoms:
<http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/cocoa/images/blackpod.jpg>,
<http://blog.worldcocoafoundation.org/BlackPod.JPG>, and
<http://www.agric.usyd.edu.au/disciplines/science/hort/Research/Blackpod.jpg>

Links
Background information on black pod disease:
<http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/cocoa/blackpod.htm>
Information on black pod and other cocoa diseases and control:
<http://www.new-agri.co.uk/99-2/focuson/focuson3.html>
Molecular diagnostic methods for black pod:
<http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul102003/34.pdf>
_P. palmivora_ taxonomy:
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=194605>. - Mod.DHA]

See Also

2007
----
Black pod, cocoa - Ivory Coast, Ghana 20070914.3043
Black pod, cocoa - Puerto Rico: 1st report 20070831.2865
Black pod disease, cocoa - Nigeria 20070713.2243
2004
----
Black pod disease, cacao - Ghana 20040613.1587
2001
----
Cacao diseases 20010222.0341
...................................dha/mj/lm

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