CRU

Cocoa Research Unit

Trinidad and Tobago ( Americas )

International collections

  • The cocoa research station of CRU. (Photo: E. Seguine)

COLLECTION INFORMATION

  • Year of founding: 1982
  • Role of collection: International collection
  • Main objectives of the collection:
    1. Augmenting the Collection,
    2. Curation of the collection, including good maintenance, characterisation, documentation and distribution through an intermediate quarantine facility,
    3. Developing a DNA fingerprint repository and ensure fidelity of plots,
    4. Duplication of collection,
    5. Germplasm enhancement for specific traits,
    6. Developing methodologies for genomic selection,
    7. Developing strategies for the long-term sustainability of the collection,
    8. Evaluation and distribution of elite genotypes identified.

CONTACT DETAILS

Collection Address

Cocoa Research Unit (CRU)
The University of the West Indies,
St. Augustine
Trinidad and Tobago

Curator
Pathmanathan Umaharan

ACCESSION INFORMATION

Total number of accessions: 2400
Related Theobroma species 4
Wild relatives of other genera (e.g. Herrania) 14
Wild seedling accessions of T. cacao 601
Wild clonal accessions of T. cacao 86
Clonal accessions selected in farms 133
Seedling accessions collected from farms 1040
Clonal accessions selected in breeding plots 130
Other 349

Additional notes about the collection

Unique in this collection are: Pound’s local selections (1930s), Pound’s Upper Amazon collections (1937-42), Refractarios, Accessions from the Anglo-Colombian expedition (1952-3), Accessions from Chalmers collection (1968-72), John Allen's Collection (1960s)