Abstract
IN September 1954 a die-back disease was seen on cacao seedlings growing in Agricultural Department nurseries established in various localities of the western region of Nigeria. There is no previous record of this disease in Nigeria, but it has reappeared in the nurseries in subsequent years. The disease caused considerable losses in these years, and in a particular nursery as many as 70 per cent of the young seedlings were killed. A species of Phytophthora has been established as the causal agent, and when inoculated into healthy cacao pods the symptoms produced were identical to those of black-pod disease caused by Phytophthora palmivora (Butl.) Butl.
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References
Orellana, R. G., Tenth Ann. Rep. Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 1952 (1953).
Van Suchtelen, N. J., Surinaam Landb., 3, 3, 223 (1955).
Thorold, C. A., Nature, 170, 718 (1952).
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CHANT, S. A Die-back of Cacao Seedlings in Nigeria caused by a Species of Phytophthora . Nature 180, 1494–1495 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/1801494b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1801494b0
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