It sounds straightforward but, in fact, successful cacao pollination is problematic in many regions. Only around 10%-20% of the flowers produced by a cacao tree are successfully pollinated.

By Bobby Bascomb The global chocolate industry is worth roughly $100 billion per year and provides income for upwards of 6 million smallholder farmers in the tropics. It’s a vital industry for much of ...

And the pin-sized chocolate midge is the only creature that can work its way into the small, intricate cacao flowers to pollinate them, which eventually develops chocolate. And on Madagascar ...

But up to 90% of cacao flowers don’t get pollinated at all. People can hand-pollinate the little flowers, but it remains a mystery which other insects might do the job in the wild. 4.

“The cacao pollination system is incredibly delicate,” said López-Uribe. “The flowers are very small and the pollen is viable for very few hours during the day. Changes of even a couple of ...

Cocoa flowers grow directly from the tree's trunk ... It means they can be negatively impacted by this change, pushing the cacao pollination rate even lower than its already low starting point.

Graduate student Holly Brabazon leads this project, with support from faculty mentors DeWayne Shoemaker, department head and professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology ...

Cacao trees easily cross-pollinate and Trinitario is a natural ... known as ‘madre-de-cacao’ as a nitrogen fixing overstory plant that will protect your tree from hot sun and strong winds.