Abstract
Cocoa pod borer is the most serious and damaging pest of cocoa in Southeast Asia. Annually, crop production losses due to cocoa pod borer (CPB) damages are about 5–20%. Occasionally, total loss in production can be due to CPB damages. Chemical insecticide spraying is the usual method employed in the plantations. This resulted in chemical residues that are not biodegradable found on the plants and cocoa beans. Therefore, alternative approaches to managing CPB need to be explored. This chapter describes the use of RNA interference (RNAi) technology to manage CPB. Several genes involved in vital metabolic processes of the insect have been identified via bioinformatics. Feeding the insects with the dsRNA causes increased insect mortality. Analysis using quantitative PCR confirmed the suppression of the target genes.