World's chocolate supply threatened by devastating virus

A rapidly spreading virus threatens the health of the cacao tree and the dried seeds from which chocolate is made, jeopardizing the global supply of the world's most popular treat. Researchers have developed a new strategy: using mathematical data to determine how far apart farmers can plant vaccinated trees to prevent mealybugs from jumping from one tree to another and spreading the virus.

"This virus is a real threat to the global supply of chocolate," said Benito Chen-Charpentier, professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Arlington and an author of"Cacao sustainability: The case of cacao swollen-shoot virus co-infection" in the journal."Pesticides don't work well against mealybugs, leaving farmers to try to prevent the spread of the disease by cutting out infected trees and breeding resistant trees.

"Mealybugs have several ways of movement, including moving from canopy to canopy, being carried by ants or blown by the wind," Chen-Charpentier said."What we needed to do was create a model for cacao growers so they could know how far away they could safely plant vaccinated trees from unvaccinated trees in order to prevent the spread of the virus while keeping costs manageable for these small farmers.

Folashade B. Agusto, Maria C. A. Leite, Frank Owusu-Ansah, Owusu Domfeh, Natali Hritonenko, Benito Chen-Charpentier.Fungal networks interconnecting trees in a forest is a key factor that determines the nature of forests and their response to climate change. These networks have also been viewed as a means for trees ...

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

Botany Virology Food And Agriculture Forest Biodiversity Exotic Species Geography

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World's chocolate supply threatened by devastating virusA rapidly spreading virus threatens the health of the cacao tree and the dried seeds from which chocolate is made, jeopardizing the global supply of the world's most popular treat.
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