Abstract

Virus diseases have plagued cocoa (Theobroma cacao) production in West Africa for over seven decades. Principal among them is that caused by the cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV), which is endemic in Togo, Ghana and Nigeria, and more recently Cote d’Ivoire. The incidence of the disease in Ghana has led to the launch of the costliest and an over ambitious eradication control programme in the world. This review highlights the various research activities conducted mainly in Ghana that influenced the various control strategies as well as those that have the potential to influence future ones. Isolation of newly planted cocoa has been identified as an efficient method of reducing CSSV prevalence and spread in the field. Identification of mealybugs as vectors, the role of alternative host in the spread of the disease, the need for an urgent review of the eradication procedures, breeding specifically for resistance to CSSV as well as some biochemical and molecular biology studies are some of the points highlighted in this paper. The achievements and limitations made in these fields are duly emphasized. The way forward, however, will be to combine most of these strategies into a single or two integrated approaches to control cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD). This will then be in tune with the suggestion that no single measure is adequate to solve the swollen shoot disease problem in Ghana, and the rest of West Africa.

Key words: Eradication campaign, mild strain, cross-protection, CSSV, mealybugs, isolation, barriers, non-host crops, molecular biology, biochemistry.