Advance and recommendations for the control of illnesses in cocoa

Among the diverse problems phyto sanitary that affect the production of cocoa in Colombia the moniliasis they stand out (Moniliophthora roreri) and witch's broom (pernicious Crinipellis). It is considered that for these illnesses the country loses but of 40 percent of the production, equivalent to some 16.000 tons of commercial grain per year. The ICA and their investigation program in cocoa have come developing in the CRI Tulenapa, Uraba, basic investigations and applied on the biology and dynamics of these pathogens, the physiology of the cultivation and the development of control programs, works that have allowed to define a handling system that consists on establishing defined times of removal of sick material for monilia and witch's broom through the year. With ends of technical and economic evaluation of this system, in 1981 they settled down in Tulenapa a demonstrative parcel of 1 there is of cocoa. The results of the rehearsal showed that the application of this system reduced the incidence of monilia of 65 percent in 1981 to 10 percent in 1985; equally, the brooms/tree/year index lowered of but of 100 at 19 in the same period. The yields that were of 280 kg/ha, increased to 422,942 and 657 kg/ha, respectively, between 1982 and 1985. Of the results of the study it comes off that this control system can be considered like model for the Uraba area some recommendations they are formulated to apply it in other regions, in accordance with its ecological conditions