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Ghana: New hybrid cocoa to fight disastrous swollen shoot disease
Thu. October 18, 2007 11:45 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. -
(SomaliNet) As part of the efforts to fight swollen shoot disease which has ruined at least 20 million trees in the country's east and now poses a serious threat in the main western producing region, Ghana has adopted a new hybrid cocoa, officials said.
Swollen shoot is a viral disease which dries out plants' roots and leaf stems, causing them to produce small pods and beans that are unfit for sale.
It has traditionally only flourished in the eastern region of Ghana, the world's second largest cocoa exporter.
Once attacked, a tree has to be uprooted and destroyed.
An official of the viral disease control unit of industry regulator Cocobod said its researchers had discovered a hybrid cocoa variety found to be tolerant of the swollent shoot virus.
The disease does not disturb its growth or development of the pods up to maturity and harvest.
All diseased trees were being replaced with the hybrid, he said.
"We consider this not only as a major breakthrough in our efforts to reduce the effect of the disease to the barest minimum, but it brings some relief to the hardworking farmers that in the event of any attack, they will not immediately lose their crop," the official held.
In recent months, the disease appears to have spread to the Western region of Ghana which produces most of the country's cocoa. In the Nsem district about a third of farms have been destroyed by swollen shoot.
"Now, the disease is beginning to take its toll on the western region and it has been a major concern," the official said.
A source close to the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana said Cocobod had stepped up an anti-swollen shoot campaign in the western region to forestall a calamity.
The person said the disease had been contained in the past under a €700 000 (about R6,8-million) four-year campaign funded by the European Union which ended in 2005 and has yet to be revived.
In addition to the hybrid, Cocobod was making progress in the use of fungus or other biological controls.
Cocobod Chief Executive Isaac Osei had said the company was spending up to $90-million on disease and pest control, including the campaign against swollen shoot, this year.
Apart from swollen shoot, Cocobod has undertaken mass spraying every year to rid cocoa farms of fungal black pod and capsid infestation.
The two officials said the spraying and the use of hybrids has been effective and led to a significant reduction in the impact of diseases throughout the cocoa belt.
"What we need now is enough funds to sustain the replanting," the source said. Apart from its ability to tolerate swollen shoot, the hybrid is much quicker to mature for harvest, without pod quality being compromised, he added.
Ghana enjoys a premium for its cocoa, especially the main crop harvest which is mainly exported to Europe and Asia.
"Obviously, if sustained, we'll increase production - first because the hybrid matures and multiplies faster, and second because there will be minimal impact of disease affliction on the crop," the source said.
Cocobod has set itself an ambitious three-year target of harvesting one million tons of cocoa by 2010 and has outlined measures, including farmer incentives and the adoption of hybrid seeds and fertilisation, to boost the crop.
Ghana's yearly average production over the last five years is 600 00 tons.-Reuters
News Category: Africa
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