Major practice in the Cultural Management practices of Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) var. Forastero beans production [manuscript]
Date
2020
Authors
Mark Jeremiah E. Garcia
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Abstract
The major practice in the Cultural Management practices of Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) var. Forastero beans production was conducted from the months of August 2018 to March 2019 at the Pomology Area, Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture, Central Luzon state University, science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija. The general objectives of the major practice were to enhance the knowledge of the student and developed skills in cacao beans production; to produce 20 kg of beans per 15 trees; and to morphologically characterize the 15 Forastero variety. The field practice students experienced hands-on training in different activities namely water management, pruning, removal of water sprouts, pesticide application, harvesting, fermentation and sun drying.
In terms of yield, all 15 forastero variety trees bear a total of 229 cacao pods and produced 9 kg of cacao beans. The average pod length was about 15.64 cm with an average pod width of 8.27 cm and average pod wall thickness of 0.87 cm. The recorded number of pods per tree was 15 pods while the average mummified pods per tree was 21 mummified pods. The average number of ridges per pod was 10 ridges as well as the average weight of pod was 396 g. The average number of beans per pod was about 44 beans with an average bean length of 2.48 cm, average bean width of 1.53 cm and the average bean thickness of 0.70 cm. The average number of formed beans was about 32 beans with an average deformed beans per pod of 2 beans. Moreover, the average weight of 10 beans per pod of each sample pods was about 28.68 g. Also, the presence of aphids and mealybugs were observed in the pods. A total yield of 9 kg dried beans was produced from 15 forastero cacao trees, which was lower by 11 kg than the objectives of the field practice student. This is because of high occurrence of mummified pods in the forastero trees.
Cultural Management practices.