Resistance to witches’ broom in adult plants and progeny of local varieties of cacao in Southern Bahia

ABSTRACT Plants of local cacao variety from Southern Bahia were evaluated in order to verify if there are different levels of resistance to witches’ broom disease in the study population and if the evaluation of adult plants in the field is a good predictor of these resistance levels. The seedlings were maintained under greenhouse conditions and inoculated with the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa. Evaluations of symptoms occurred 60 days after inoculation. In the field, the same genotypes were evaluated by counting the number of dry brooms per plant, per year, and assessing trunk diameter s...