Episode

Cacao with Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan

Podcast: Plant People
Published: Apr 27, 2026
Duration seconds: 1580
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Canonical source: https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_7023_04ab46eb-86c2-43b9-945e-5d5df6020c38&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fplantpeople.podcast.nybg.org%2F
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Summary

In this episode of Plant People , host Jennifer Bernstein, CEO and The William C. Steere Sr. President of NYBG, sits down with Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan, Director of the Cocoa Research Centre at the University of the West Indies, to talk chocolate. Together they explore the ancient history of cacao tree cultivation, dating at least as far back as the Olmec civilization in what is now Mexico. Today, crops of cacao and the many types of chocolate they produce face threats in climate change and plant diseases, creating serious challenges for the future of this important food.