Biotech Updates

Gourmet Chocolates to Boost Farmers’ Incomes and Preserve Biodiversity

May 11, 2007

Gourmets will enjoy new delights of complex-flavored chocolates based on single varieties of cacao. Bioversity International will be helping farmers in Nicaragua improve the quality of cacao being planted, and have the cocoa beans exported to Europe and North America. Many farmers have a few cacao trees, and most of these are modern disease-resistant hybrids, but of low quality and low earning potential. Older trees, called criollo, produce much better cocoa, but these are vanishing rapidly as a result of neglect. The new project will focus on improving these older and diverse trees to yield more high-quality cocoa beans.

Read the news release at http://www.cgiar.org/newsroom/releases/news.asp?idnews=568.