Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Costa Rica
The International Cocoa Collection at CATIE (IC3) has received over 300 clones from the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre. The material has been evaluated for a range of traits including screening for resistance to frosty pod rot (Moniliophthora rorei). Where material supplied from ICQC,R has been found to be resilient to frosty pod rot, the information has been fed back and also included in the International Cocoa Germplasm Database (ICGD). This information can then be utilised by end users when selecting material from ICQC,R; e.g. for preventative breeding. Clones identified as being disease resistant have been used in breeding trials to develop new, high yielding and resistant genotypes.
In 2021, thirty-nine clones were provided from the ICQC,R to CATIE as part of the MOCCA project, which financed activities in the CATIE genebank, such as increasing the genetic diversity preserved in it through the introduction of new accessions.
Cocoa trees in the CATIE collection
Photo: CATIE
Budwood received from ICQC,R
Photo: CATIE