Black pod disease profile: Monitoring its outbreak in Southwest, Nigeria

Black pod disease (BPD) has been and still remains a major threat to cocoa farmers worldwide due to its annual recurrence, fast spread and highly destructive nature. The disease has caused great anxiety in many cocoa producing communities due to the inability of indigenous cocoa farmers to determine when and where BPD outbreak will take place. Twelve (12) stations were structured from four important cocoa-producing States in the Southwestern region of Nigeria. An investigation of BPD outbreak was conducted in 2015/2016 within these regions. Infected cocoa pods and topsoil samples were collected for laboratory analysis. Pests attack, cherelle wilt and BPD outbreak were seasonal with 50% chances of occurrence in all the stations. Black pod diseases outbreak was recorded in all the States (100%) during the rainy season. The disease was at its peak in August 2015 in almost all the stations (station 1 (30.0%), station 3 (23.0%), station 11 (16.0%), station 4 (9.0%), station 5 (7.0%), and station 8 (3.0%). The height of disease severity was in September 2015 (station 1 (100.0%), station 3 (96.7%), station 5 (85.7%), station 11 (84.3%), and station 4 (70.0%), with station 8 reaching the 100% mark in October 2015. Most cocoa farmlands are now being abandoned, unless concerted efforts are made to effectively manage the disease, BPD will greatly reduce cocoa production in Nigeria and around the world.