Abstract
Five-year-old Amelonado and some hybrid cocoas were examined for natural canker infection by completely stripping the bark. The resistance of Amelonado in Fiji to this phase of the disease syndrome caused by Phytophthora palmivora was confirmed and 90 per cent of the trees had no or negligible canker. There were varying proportions of susceptible trees amongst the hybrids. Except in the case of Amelonado, results from artificial inoculation of the trunks could not have been used to predict the incidence of natural infection; some hybrid trees with many natural cankers were resistant to artificial inoculation and others with no natural cankers were susceptible.
