Moniliophthora roreri (frosty pod rot).

The invasive basidiomycete pathogen M. roreri originated in Western Colombia/Ecuador. In recent years it has expanded its range in South America (Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia) and throughout Mesoamerica as far as Mexico. Africa, Asia and insular Caribbean are still free of this pathogen. M. roreri causes the devastating frosty pod rot of cocoa (Theobroma cacao), a disease that commonly reduces yields by over 80% within a few years of pathogen establishment. The severe losses, and occassionally complete crop failure, frequently render cocoa production economically unfeasible. The results are loss of livelihoods and abandonment and conversion of the affected agroforests to less environmentally sustainable uses, with secondary effects ranging from habitat loss for wildlife, fragmentation of forested landscapes and soil erosion. It is therefore imperative that the introduction of the pathogen to additional cocoa-producing regions is prevented. These include the insular Caribbean, the Guyanas and Brazil in the Americas, as well as the bulk-cocoa producing continents, Africa and Asia (Krauss, 2010).