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Abstract
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Conservation of cacao germplasm in the International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad
The deliberate collection of exotic germplasm, begun in Trinidad by F.J. Pound, was for a very specific purpose. The main selection criterion was resistance to Witches' Broom disease of cacao. The collections, which were previously distributed over several sites in Trinidad, are now conserved at one site in Centeno, viz. the International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad (ICG,T).
The genebank contains mainly collections obtained during Pound's expeditions to Peru (Upper Amazon Forastero) and Ecuador (Refractario). Smaller populations from Colombia (the Anglo-Colombian expedition of 1952) and from the Orienté of Ecuador are also represented. The original collections were later augmented by the LCT-EEN collections from Ecuador (1980-1985) and by those acquired by CRU's collecting expeditions to South America and Belize, Central America.
The collections presently conserved in the ICG,T include:
Imperial College Selections (1930-34)
Ecuadorian Refractario Collection (1937) - selected for apparent Witches' Broom disease resistance
Upper Amazon Collection (1937, 1942)
Anglo-Colombian expedition material (1952)
Ecuador Collection (1969-1973)
LCT-EEN Collection (1980-1985)
Cocoa Research Unit's Local Germplasm Collection (1991)
Caribbean Collections (Grenada - 1940's; Dominica, Martinique, Guadeloupe - 1986-1990)
Belize collection (1992, 1994, 1996)
French Guiana collection (1995)
Ecuadorian collection (2001) |