| Summary: | Frosty pod rot, caused by <i>Moniliophthora roreri</i>, is the most damaging disease of cacao in Latin America and, to better comprehend its epidemiology, we must understand its dissemination and proliferation. However, we do not know how <i>M. roreri</i> spores loads fluctuate in time and space due to the lack of a reliable technique to quantify <i>M. roreri</i> spores in the fields. Therefore, we developed a method that relies on spore traps and qPCR to detect and quantify <i>M. roreri</i> spore loads. This study demonstrated that the qPCR protocol can detect down to 0.025 ng of <i>M. roreri</i> DNA and quantify between 0.006 ng and 60 ng. Moreover, it demonstrated that qPCR protocol can detect and quantify DNA extracted from spore suspension and spore traps containing at least 2.9 × 10<sup>4</sup> <i>M. roreri</i> spores. However, the variability of the estimates for spore samples was high. Finally, we described a spore-trap device designed to carry spore traps in the field. The qPCR protocol and spore-trap device here developed will help in the understanding of the <i>M. roreri</i> dissemination patterns since they can be used to assess the environmental loads of <i>M. roreri</i> spore in cacao fields.
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