Versions are available for Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, Trinidad and Togabo and Ecuador.
The MOCCA program supported research and germplasm conservation centers in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago to prepare a Catalog of Cocoa Clones, which serves as a showcase for each country to present its most recommended or promising planting materials.
These catalogues show:
- A list of productive characteristics
- Resistance to pests and diseases.
- Sexual compatibility
- Genetic affinity
- Sensory quality of the pulp and liquor of each genotype
“The catalogues are a sample of some of the collections maintained by cooperatives, farmers who are guardians of diversity, NGOs, public entities and the private sector, and it is our expectation that they will continue to grow in number of genotypes and collections,” said Carolina Aguilar, Director of the Cocoa Program at MOCCA.
MOCCA is a 7-year initiative funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its Food for Progress Program, which seeks to improve agricultural productivity and expand trade in agricultural products. The MOCCA project is being executed by a consortium led by TechnoServe. Lutheran World Relief leads the cocoa activities.
About the contributions of these catalogues
The catalogues help to identify different genetic groups through the use of morphological descriptors intended to detail qualitative and quantitative characteristics that allow determining genetic variability; in this way, users can identify and select accessions for the implementation of studies in genetic improvement and conservation of genetic resources with outstanding characteristics in productive capacity, resistance to diseases and organoleptic quality.
To prepare these catalogues, MOCCA worked with the Bioversity International-CIAT Alliance, the cocoa teams of the MOCCA countries and partner organizations in the verification of content. These documents are structured based on the results obtained in the agromorphological characterization carried out in the areas where the clonal gardens are located and the associated organizations in the countries, the phenotypic relationship between various materials from a germplasm bank was identified with the purpose of promoting the sustainable use, management and improvement of cocoa genetic resources.
Despite not being part of the MOCCA programme’s area of influence, due to the relevance of the collection, the catalogues included a publication for Trinidad and Tobago, containing detailed botanical notes and photographs of mature cocoa pods from 56 selected cocoa clones, conserved at the International Cocoa Gene Bank in this country and will facilitate the identification of promising cocoa varieties. The highlighted clones are available to cocoa farmers and interested parties at the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, University of Reading, United Kingdom.
“The challenges associated with improving cocoa planting material for producers include identifying parent types and elite varieties that are well adapted to the impacts of climate change, are tolerant to pests and diseases, and possess inherently favourable yield potential, among other traits,” so the MOCCA programme’s support for the development of these catalogues represents a huge advantage for the sector,” said Frances Bekele, Research Associate, Cocoa Research Centre, Trinidad and Tobago.
Each collection is presented as a chapter with a short description of how it was established, who were the most important protagonists behind its establishment, and how to get in touch to access the genetic material or cocoa beans of genotypes of interest. In this sense, the catalogue aims to serve as a showcase for each collection to present its most recommended or promising materials in terms of productive characteristics, resistance to pests and diseases, sexual compatibility, genetic affinity and sensory quality of the pulp and liquor of each genotype.
