World's Chocolate Supply is in danger due to the devastating virus

The world’s chocolate supply is in danger due to mealybugs spreading the devastating virus affecting cacao trees. The health of the cacao tree and the dried seeds used to make chocolate are in danger; due to this virus spreading quickly.

Cacao trees in two West African countries, Ghana and the Ivory Coast produce around half of the chocolate consumed worldwide. Mealybugs virus is affecting cocoa trees in Ghana, causing harvest losses of 15% to 50%.

One of the biggest risks to the primary ingredient in chocolate is the cocoa swollen shoot viral disease (CSSVD). Tiny insects called mealybugs spread CSSVD while consuming leaves, buds, and flowers of trees.

Benito Chen-Charpentier is the author of “Cacoa swollen-shoot virus co-infection” in the journal PLOS ONE. He stated in this journal that this virus is a real threat to the global supply of chocolate.

Since pesticides are ineffective against mealybugs, growers must work to stop the disease’s spread by removing affected trees and cultivating resistant ones. However, Ghana has recently lost more than 254 cocoa trees despite these cultivating efforts.

Farmers can protect their trees against mealybugs by vaccinating them against the virus. However, the cost of the vaccination is high, particularly for low-income farmers. The vaccinated plants produce a lower cacao harvest.

Benito Chen-Charpentier and colleagues from the University of Kansas, Prairie View A&M, the University of South Florida, and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana have created a new method. Its purpose is to stop mealybugs from jumping from one tree to another and spreading the virus.

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They have created mathematical data to determine how far apart farmers can plant vaccinated trees. Benito explained mealybugs have several ways of movement. It includes movement from canopy to canopy by ants, or blown by the wind.

According to Benito, they needed to develop a model for cacao growers to determine the safe planting distance between vaccinated and unvaccinated trees to stop the virus from spreading.

It keeps costs affordable for these small farmers while the world’s chocolate supply is protected from mealybugs that are in danger.