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Daniel Stanley Tan edited section_Introduction_Decades_ago_Philippines__.tex
over 8 years ago
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\section{Introduction}
Decades ago, Philippines used to produce about 20 percent of the world's cacao [1]. However, the appearance of pod borer in the 80's and other factors like land reform changed the way cacao was grown. The Philippine cacao market faltered. Nowadays, the world’s cacao requirement is supplied by Ivory Coast (38%), Ghana (21%), Indonesia (13%), Brazil (4%) and Malaysia (1%) [1, 2].
Philippines’ climatic conditions and soil characteristics are conducive to grow cocoa. This made us qualified to compete globally in the world’s supply of cacao products. With the increasing demand of cacao products locally and internationally, and favorable selling prices of cacao worldwide, we should try to retrieve our glorious days as one of the main producer of world’s cacao [3].
As reported by the Philippine Bureau of Agricultural Research, most common cacao pests in the Philippines are: Cacao Pod Borer, Vascular Streak Dieback, Helopeltis and Cacao Stem Borer. The most common cacao disease is known as Black Pod [3]. This causes 20 to 30\% pod losses, and kills up to 10\% of trees annually through stem cankers [4]. As shown in Figure 1, one will observe a clear boundary between the healthy and infected part of the pod. The infected part of the pod is discolored and it spreads quickly to the whole pod surface, turning the pod into blackish brown. As reported in the study by Sudjud et. al [5], the discoloration usually started from the tip of the pod or near the stem. The disease can occur in any age group of pod. However, if the infected pod is still young, it cannot be harvested unlike those pods that are already ripped.
Given the great loss that is attributed to this cacao pod disease, a tool is necessary to accurately identify the infestation rate of cacao pods. This can pave the way to more meaningful assessments to decide on appropriate management strategies.
