Cocoa Trees Are Being Ravaged By a Disease With No Known Cure
Swollen shoot is unique to West Africa, where about three-quarters of the world’s cocoa is grown.
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It’s a nightmare scenario for a cocoa farmer: walking through your plantation you spot some red-veined leaves. Maybe it’s a big lump on one of the branches.
You know immediately the tree is doomed, infected by the deadly swollen-shoot disease. Even worse, the plants around it are probably contaminated too, but you can’t be sure because the symptoms can take years to appear.