| Summary: | In Bahia, Brazil, as well as in other countries, some cacao trees may die in just a few days from a disease whose origin is unknown.
Due to the fact that fungi, bacteria and insects have been discarded as possible etiological factors, some investigators are inclined to believe that the disease is caused by a physiological disorder. Such hypothesis, however, is in disagreement with recent observations made by the author both under field and greenhouse conditions. Although circumstantial, this evidence strongly suggests that they origin of the so-called “morte súbita” is closely associated to the attack of plant parasitic nematodes, which destroy the feeding roots and eventually kill the plant.
Finally, the other recommends, among other things, that further research should be performed in order to prove the suspected relationship between the injury caused by the root-knot and/or the root-lesion nematodes and the “sudden death” of the cacao tree.
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