Entry: Eduardo Somarriba, CATIE, Costa Rica

Cocoa has been cultivated in Mesoamerica (from southern Mexico to northern South America) for more than one thousand years, initially as a sacred, ceremonial food and later as a commodity for the international markets (both in colonial times and today). Severe diseases pressures, coupled with lower international market prices between 1970-2000 led many farmers to replace cocoa with more profitable crops (such as intensive, mono-cropped bananas for export or pastures) in areas with good access and transportation infrastructure.

Nowadays, cacao is cultivated by indigenous peoples (Ngobe, Panamá; Bribris and Cabecares, Costa Rica; Mayangna and Miskitos, Nicaragua and Honduras; and Mayas in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize) and peasant farmers in remote areas of all Mesoamerican countries. Cocoa farms are commonly located around protected areas of high national and global conservation value. Cacao cultivation is a key land use for poverty alleviation and environmental conservation in Mesoamerica. Mesoamerican cocoa, mostly Trinitarios variety, has a reputation for good quality, as well as cultivated in an environmentally and socially responsible manner (organic, fair trade and other sustainable cocoa models).

CATIE (Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza), a regional centre for research , education and sustainable development, has a long history with cocoa. We host the world second largest cocoa germplasm collection. CATIE has been a leader on cocoa research to control of moniliasis (Moniliophthora roreri), a devastating fungal disease. This research is being funded by the World Cocoa Foundation, along with several other international public and private sector partners.

Photo: The Henry A. Wallace Building at CATIE

CATIE has also pioneered research and development of agroforestry technologies for optimal shade regulation, product diversification (to mitigate financial risk and uncertainty on household economics), and provision of environmental services at both the plot (soil, water and biodiversity conservation) and global scales (for instance, storage of atmospheric carbon and mitigation of global climate change). We also produce a significant number of scientific, technical and promotional materials on cocoa.

My work with cocoa focuses on the design, testing and dissemination of shade management strategies for farmers. The contribution of cocoa farming to both biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration in small indigenous farms in Costa Rica and Panama are central themes of my work. I also have been dedicated to introducing new cocoa production technologies to farmers (improved varieties, grafting and management of grafted cocoa plants, pest and disease control and agroforestry) in Mesoamerica and Bolivia (Aymaras, Quechuas and Mosetenes indigenous groups).

Photo: Eduardo Somarriba

There is much additional work that needs to be done, both in research and dissemination and application of cocoa science and technology in small, Mesoamerican cocoa farms. We in CATIE are strongly committed to this end. If you have the opportunity, please read more about our research on the website or come and visit us in Costa Rica.

Entry: Rachel Melnick
PhD Candidate in Plant Pathology
Pennsylvania State University

In March 2006, I had the pleasure of traveling to Ecuador to start my PhD research on sustainable cacao disease management systems. Funding for my work was provided, in part, through support from the US Agency for International Development, USDA’s Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and the World Cocoa Foundation. The overall goal is to achieve higher levels of integrated pest management, sustainable agriculture, and improving farmer livelihood.

This builds on my masters research, at Pennsylvania State University, which focused on developing laboratory and greenhouse methods to evaluate U.S. internal plant bacteria as potential biological control agents for cacao diseases. My PhD research utilizes the techniques I developed in my M.S. program, and expands the research to include bacterial endophytes (microorganisms that live inside plants without causing disease) from Ecuador to manage cacao diseases. Now that a model system has been developed, I have begun to collect bacteria from cacao trees, so I can work with organisms native to cacao growing regions.

In March of 2006, I collected bacterial endophytes from elite cacao trees on the INIAP cocoa research station in Pichilingue, Ecuador. These trees were high yielding and processed low levels of disease. Dr. Carmen Suárez Capello helped to identify trees with superior traits prior to my arrival.

Carmen Suárez Capello and Enginero Danielo Vera examine an elite tree in the INIAP cocoa research farm.

After collecting the bacterial isolates from the trees, I had the opportunity to meet with farmers to better understand some of their production challenges. I also visited an organic cacao cooperative where farmers bring transport their beans for sun-drying and fermentation. They receive a premium price for the organically certified beans.

Organic Cacao Farming Group in Los Rios Ecuador. The group supports both organic cultivation and use of Ecuadorian nacional varieties. The maintaining a cacao nacional garden to provide material for propagation as well as provide a farmers a place to ferment and dry their beans.

Fermenting boxes at the organic farmers union. Farmers in this cooperative bring their pods to the centralized area, where they are processed together.

After I departed Ecuador, more than 65 bacterial isolates were shipped under permit to Pennsylvania State University, so I could determine whether or not they would be suitable as biological control agents.

We were able to identify 6 isolates that over the past 10 months that show promise for suppressing cacao diseases and enzymes known to suppress plant pathogens.

The next step will be to plan field experiments over the next year, to test how well these bacterial endophytes perform in reducing disease in this natural Ecuadorian setting, by using colonized seedlings placed under trees with high levels of disease infection.

Enginero Danielo Vera and Rachel Melnick examine an experiment screening cacao genotypes for resistance to witches’ broom.

The trip will end with an USAID team planning meeting in Ecuador to discuss research and future goals of individual projects. As I tie up the lose ends of my research in the states and start packing my suitcase, I have had the time to reflect upon my last trip. I look forward to seeing my Ecuadorian collaborators and taking another step in the development of sustainable agricultural options for South American farmers.