Cacao yield in different planting densities

• Autor(a) principal: Dias, Luiz Antônio dos Santos
• Data de Publicação: 2009
• Outros Autores: Souza, Carlos Alberto Spaggiari, Aguilar, Marco Antonio Galeas, Sonegheti, Sabrina, Oliveira, Jéferson, Costa, Jorge Luiz Andrade
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-89132009000600001; http://www.locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/25505
• topic: Density-year interaction; High productivity; Theobroma cacao L

The effect of six planting densities on cacao yield of a commercial hybrid mixture as well as the interaction of planting densities with the years were investigated. Crop data collected over a 14-year period (1977-1990) showed that it was possible to optimise the regional cacao yields by implementing high planting densities (2500 and 1736 trees ha-1). This was however only true for the first half of the crop period. In the second half, low planting density (1059 trees ha-1) attained the best yields. This change in the ranking of planting densities over the years confirmed the presence of density-year interaction. Alternatives to achieve high productivity in high planting density systems were presented and discussed.