ABIDJAN, Aug. 6 — The Ivorian government on Wednesday announced a promising biological solution against cocoa swollen shoot disease, a virus posing a major threat to the world’s top cocoa producer.
First identified in Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa plantations in the 1940s, the viral disease has gradually spread to nearly all cocoa-growing areas in the country. The innovation, dubbed “Vital Plus,” follows two decades of research and field experimentation led by Professor Mamadou Doumbia at Nangui Abrogoua University in Abidjan, said Government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly. Made from natural organic materials, the biological product serves as an innovative organic fertilizer for the curative treatment of the swollen shoot virus while reducing the country’s dependence on imported agricultural inputs.
Describing the achievement as a “major breakthrough” by Ivorian researchers, the government called on relevant ministries to boost production and accelerate the validation process for large-scale deployment.
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