Time to stock more chocolate!

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

 The insect is causing major concern in Asia where about 17% of the world's cocoa is produced.

Mars (the candy company not the planet) has now sent a team to Papua
New Guinea after an outbreak of the cocoa pod borer moth was found.

The moth lays its eggs on the cocoa pods which the larvae then eat into.

"They chew up all the internal mechanisms of the pod and so the cocoa
beans do not develop, or they develop very poorly," said Roger Dehnel,
cocoa sustainability director at Mars.

"This pod burrowing really is a threat to the whole of cocoa production across Asia."

And the pest is expected to hit about a quarter of Indonesia's 400,000
tonne annual cocoa crop for 2006 - resulting in around $150m in lost
produce.

Papua New Guinea grows around 40,000 tonnes of cocoa each year. The crop is its second largest export after coffee.

Mars, the firm that makes M&M's and Snickers as well as the Mars
bar, would not reveal how much of its cocoa was sourced from there.

But it said it was important to preserve the "diversity" of the range of cocoa available.

"Papua New Guinea cocoa is quite well-renowned for its flavour. It find its way all over the world," Mr Dehnel said.

Farmers in Papua New Guinea are working with Mars and aid agencies to fight the small but deadly insect.

Besides the "honey trap" method, which uses synthetically produced
female sex hormones, other techniques being tested include low-grade
pesticides.

I know this is off topic, but i thought it was interesting and relavant anyway!