This book reviews the current state of knowledge concerning cacao pathogens and methods for their management. Topics discussed include the history, biology and genetic diversity of Moniliophthora species (which cause witches’ broom and frosty pod rot) and Phytophthora species (which cause black pod rot) that cause diseases resulting in major losses to cacao production. Emerging pathogens such as Cacao swollen shoot virus and Ceratobasidium theobromae (which causes vascular streak dieback) are also discussed in detail, along with many pathogens of significant local concern. Most of these pathogens represent major risks to global cacao production should they expand into new areas, breaking out of their current limited distributions. By considering cacao diseases as a group, similarities in the available tools and techniques used in their management become apparent, as do their limitations. Gaps in our current knowledge of cacao pathogens and the management of the diseases they cause are detailed, and suggestions for future research directions are provided. This insight allows readers to consider cacao disease threats from a more comprehensive, global perspective and paves the way for an improved synergy of efforts between the various research programs, agencies, and industries, both private and public, with vested interests in cacao production, and cacao farmers.

The Monograph deals with the conception, planning, implementation, results and conclusions of the International Witches' Broom Project (IWBP), which was set up in 1985 with the aim of producing an economic management system for witches' broom disease of cocoa. The contributions of the various sponsors, and the roles played by the participating organizations and scientists are described in the introductory chapter. Chapter 2 provides a review of what was, and what was not known from published literature about the cocoa witches' broom pathosystem in 1989. The scope of the project and the approaches used are covered in Chapter 3, while Chapters 4 to 13 report on the field studies themselves in detail. The recent appearance of witches' broom in the important cocoa area of Bahia in Brazil is described in Chapter 14, before disease management recommendations are summarised and future prospects considered in the closing chapters. The many man-years of field research in the IWBP in a total of six countries generated much useful information which was analyzed both in the individual countries and collectively. Even with a document of this size, certain information and analyses with less direct relevance to disease management had to be omitted. It is expected that more detailed treatments of certain aspects will emerge in scientific papers, and further analyses will be undertaken.

Almost five million tonnes of cocoa produced annually drives the US$100 billion global chocolate industry. To sustain the industry, cacao planting materials (seeds and clones) have been successfully moved from the Amazon forests in America to the humid tropical forests of Africa, Asia, and Australia. In more than 150 years of commercial cacao cultivation, smallholder farmers that supply the bulk of cocoa beans still face several production constraints that impede their efficiency. Scientific technologies have therefore been deployed to remove these constraints by ensuring a continuous supply of good quality cocoa beans to meet growing global demand. This book provides insight into these scientific advances to address these current and emerging problems and to assure the sustainability of the global cocoa industry.

Published since 1953, Advances in Virus Research covers a diverse range of in-depth reviews providing a valuable overview of the current field of virology. In 2004, the Institute for Scientific Information released figures showing that the series has an Impact Factor of 2.576, with a half-life of 7.1 years, placing it 11th in the highly competitive category of Virology.* Edited by an experienced plant pathologist who has over 50 years experience in plant virus epidemiology* Covers topics such as Evolutionary epidemiology of plant virus disease, The control of tropical plant virus diseases, and Control of plant virus diseases* A valuable resource for students and researchers alike