The text of the third edition was completed in 1973 just before the
sharp rise in cocoa prices which stimulated a surge of interest in planting
cocoa, particularly in Brazil and Malaysia. This fresh interest gave
rise to much new cultural information and to some new problems
which led to research projects designed to overcome them. Cocoa
production has not greatly increased since 1973, but there have been
considerable changes in the distribution of production; Ghana and
Nigeria declining in importance, while Brazil, Ivory Coast and SouthEast
Asia have risen. These changes and the new knowledge about
cocoa production are dealt with in this new edition which has been
almost entirely rewritten and all aspects are dealt with in greater detail
and from a wider range of publications than before.