T24 Foreign News
A virus spread by a small insect has begun destroying cocoa trees in West Africa.
The virus is spread by mealybugs, a hairy insect that thrives in warm climates. It has been described as one of the “most ecologically destructive” viruses in the world. The virus destroyed 50 thousand hectares of cocoa farmland in Ghana, the world’s second largest chocolate producer.
Approximately 50% of the world’s chocolate comes from Ivory Coast and Ghana.
The virus was spread by small insects called mealybugs that eat the leaves, buds and flowers of cocoa trees.
While Ghana has lost more than 254 million cocoa trees in recent years, approximately 20 percent of the cocoa crop in Ivory Coast has also been infected.
professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Arlington Benito Chen-Charpentier, “This virus poses a real threat to the global chocolate supply” said.
Farmers said they hope that by planting trees far apart, they can prevent mealybugs from jumping from one tree to another and spreading the virus.
Tags: newly spreading virus destroying worlds chocolate supply
