Its range includes northwestern South America including Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru, and southern Central America. It is expected to infect Bahia in Brazil within a decade - a region which has already had its cocoa production ravaged by witches broom. For black pod disease, cultural techniques such as shade reduction, regular harvesting and frequent weed control may reduce infection, but some losses from black pod are almost inevitable in areas of very high humidity. As with monilia pod rot and witches' broom, frequent 'sanitation' sweeps to remove infected material is advisable. Liming the soil to reduce pH to 6.0-6.5 may also help to keep Phytophthora inoculum levels low.
Durable resistance offers the best potential for management of witches' broom.
The best resistant germplasm will be used to produce resistant planting stock. A pilot plant for commercial scale production of this bio-agent is currently being installed for field use. For monilia pod rot, cultural practices are currently the most effective means of combating the disease. The most important of these are the regular removal of diseased fruits, the pruning of cocoa and shade trees, and the installation of effective soil drainage systems. Studies continue on the use of resistant material but have yet to produce results that could benefit producers.