Elaboração e validação de diagramas de área padrão (DAP) para avaliação da severidade da monilíase (Moniliopthora roreri H.C. Evans) em cacaueiro (Theobroma cacao L.)

The frosty pod of cacao is one of the major diseases affecting cacao in Ecuador. Considering the lack of standardized methods to quantify this disease on fruits, the aim of this study was to develop a standard area diagram to quantify the severity of the cacao frosty pod. To standardize the assessment, we developed one set of standard area diagrams with ten images. To validate the diagram, thirty raters estimated the severity of 42 scanned fruit images at different severity levels. The proposed diagram provided good levels of accuracy and precision, constituting thus a useful tool in epidemiological studies and for the development of strategies to control the cacao frosty pod as the plant breeding.