Entry: Bill Guyton and Tracey Duffey

Small scale cocoa farmers in Southeast Asia face many challenges to overcome the devastating diseases and pests such as cocoa pod borer (CPB), black pod and vascular streak dieback (VSD). In some cases, such diseases and pest can completely destroy a farmer’s crop.

In an effort to help address some of these problems, World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) supported the INGENIC Asia Pacific Working Group, a regional network of Asian cocoa researchers. With funding from WCF and others, INGENIC is conducting field trials to test the best regional crosses exchanged among participating research institutes in Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam. As a result, researchers are better able to evaluate planting material that exhibits superior yields and tolerance to cocoa pod borer (CPB), black pod and vascular streak dieback (VSD).

WCF’s funding support for 2008 contributed to the regional exchanges, allowing for more than 3,000 hybrid seedlings to be planted in the field. When established in the field, all of the tree seedlings are evaluated for production and resistance to local pests and diseases. Some of the planted trees are already flowering!

We would like to thank in particular, Dr. Smilja Lambert, from Mars Incorporated, for her leadership in working with the Southeast Asia cocoa research institutes. She and the other INGENIC working group members, are helping to make a significant difference in sustainable cocoa farming.

Photos:
A. The package of seed shipment from the Philippines
B. Starting germinating the seeds of the cross of BR 25 x K2.
C. Seeds germinating
D. Nursery - soil media in polybags 15 x 25cm for seed planting.

Photo: Field trial in the Philippines with Dr. Romulo Cena, the cocoa breeder from the University of Southern Mindanao with Malaysian hybrid already in soil and jorquetting.