How Ghana's research institute is tackling cocoa diseases and pests

Cocoa is a very important cash crop in Ghana and is one of
the main contributors to the country's foreign exchange
earnings. But like other crops, it is also plagued by various
diseases and pests.
The Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) is called Tafo
Cocoa Station when it was established in 1938 and later
changed its name to the West African Cocoa Research
Institute (WACRI) in 1944. It has mandate of conducting
research to facilitate improved production of disease-free or
disease-resistant cocoa, not only in the Gold Coast (now
Ghana) but also in other West African countries which were
under British rule, including Nigeria.
However, various countries later established their own
research institutions after they gained independence and
Ghana renamed WACRI as the Cocoa Research Institute of
Ghana (CRIG).
The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) was
established in Ibadan, Oyo State, on December 1, 1964, as a
successor autonomous research organisation to the
Nigerian substation of the defunct West African Cocoa
Research Institute (WACRI).
According to the Executive Director of Cocoa Research
Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Dr Franklin Amoah, the institute
was established in 1938 after a farmer observed some
unusual symptoms on his cocoa tree as a result of
diseases, particularly the swollen shoot disease in 1936.
The institute was established to look into the case and other
diseases and pests problems that came up. It later became
a centre for research for post-graduate students from
different countries.
Amoah said when it comes to research on Cocoa, Ghana
and Nigeria have many things in common, adding: "The
Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria was formerly a
substation of our institute until after independence when
they decided to be autonomous.
"But since then we have had a lot of collaboration and share
a lot of things, including research findings. Virtually every
year I travel to Ukraine where I collaborate with the Cocoa
Research Institute of Nigeria," he told media fellows of the
Biosciences for Farming in Africa (B4FA) when they visited
the institute in Tafo, Ghana in April.
He said the diseases and pests of cocoa are major problems
but the research institute has been doing its best to keep
the disease and pests under control, adding that the two
major diseases that affect cocoa are the swollen shoot
disease and black pod disease.
"As at now, we are managing the swollen shoot disease, we
have not found any major cure for it. It is a viral disease. As
I speak over two million cocoa trees have been removed,
eradicated, cut out and replanted while the breeders are
also trying to develop materials which are very resistant or
tolerant to the disease.
"We are also putting other agronomic practices to ensure
that the spread of the disease is minimised. We have what
we call the barrier cropping where core plot of cocoa is
surrounded by two or three lines of non host plants."
He said the swollen shoot is a major cocoa disease in
Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo, adding that the
symptoms vary with environmental conditions. The
symptoms include the swelling of the root or stem, leaf
discolouration and death of the trees, thus, affecting crop
yields.
The executive director said the institute collaborated with
the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, and cloned
some cocoa materials which have promising signs of
resistance to the swollen shoot disease.
Amoah said breeders are also working hard to come up with
materials that are tolerant to black pod disease, saying the
disease can destroy a farm within a short time.
He said eradication of the disease can be done by farm
sanitation coupled with applying chemicals on the farm,
adding that the institute tries to avoid using of chemicals,
considering the farmers health and the crops. In addition, it
also avoids use of pesticides except those recommended for
controlling pests.
He added that the institute has been the farmer's friend and
major pillar in planting cocoa as they are benefitting from
the institute's research, especially through the farmers'
newspaper it publishes regularly to enlighten them.
Explaining the functions of various sections of the research
institute, the Public Relations Officer, Lloyd Adasi Brobbey
said: "There is an agronomy division which helps farmers
establish and maintain their farms and guides them on how
to plant, among others. There is the plant pathology
division which looks at the diseases of cocoa. There is also
the entomology division which looks at pest -insect control.
"Then there is the physiology biochemistry division which
looks at plant intake of water, nutrient and fermentation of
cocoa. As we know the first cocoa has no chocolate quality.
It is after fermentation and drying that you get chocolate.
Then we have the plant breeding division which looks at the
varieties of cocoa that we have in Ghana."
He said the Amelonado, is the first type of cocoa brought
into Ghana and has good seed, however, it has a long
gestation period of eight years, (that is from when you plant
to when you harvest). He said the researchers in 1944 now
replaced it with the type called Amazon, which begins
bearing fruit at about four years.
He said another variety called the Trinitario was brought
from Trinidad and Tobago and takes about five years to
mature. However, it is susceptible to the black pod disease.
He said the scientists carried out research and came up
with the variety called the hybrid cocoa which is the
combination of the Amelonado and Amazon and is the
variety presently supplied to the farmers.
Brobbey said the hybrids take a very short time to mature
with some maturing as early as 18 months and it has the
best disease resistance.
He said there are other types or varieties of cocoa which
are of no economic importance to Ghana, adding that there
are also two sub-divisions which used to meet with farmers
and help organise radio talk shows for them.
Aside cocoa, the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG)
now also carries out research on coffee, cashew and shea
butter. It has a shop where products made from these crops
and cocoa like biscuits, wine, beverage vinegar, soaps jam
and creams, among others, are made and sold.