New Israeli cocoa variety a hopeful way out of crisis

Cocoa crisis pushes for new solutions

The current year has resulted in a number of weather changes that have affected various crops in many areas of the world. Among others, the natural disasters affected cocoa crops, which, together with the spread of plant diseases, led to a record increase in the price of the product. Many agricultural stakeholders and scientists are aware that climate change brings with it the need to find new solutions, such as developing more environmentally resistant cocoa varieties.

Israeli scientists at the Volcani Institute, among others, have been involved in this type of work. The institute has already developed resistant crop varieties in the past, such as drought-resistant wheat, which matures earlier and has a higher nutrient content than the standard version, and cold-resistant basil, which yields year-round.

Israeli cacao ‘superhero’

Israeli work on hardy cacao began as early as last year. 140 seedlings were selected and sent to a centre in southern Israel to test the plants’ ability to grow in dry conditions. Unfortunately, a few days after the seedlings arrived on site – at the beginning of October – the area was attacked by the Palestinian group Hamas, sparking the Gaza war. The centre was closed for several months, without access to electricity or water.

In January, the centre was reopened. It was then discovered that 18 cocoa seedlings had survived 3.5 months of drought and a cold weather front. The cacao that survived the front was named a superhero, giving hope that strains could be developed to help expand the world’s cacao growing areas. The next step is to test the new strain for other traits, such as disease and pest resistance, and to identify the genes responsible for the resistance traits found.