Floral Phenology of Upper Amazon Cocoa Trees: Implications for Reproduction and Productivity of Cocoa

Abstract

A study of the floral phenology of cocoa trees was carried out between 2006 and 2008 at Kubease in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, using one hundred cocoa trees from ten farm plots. The objective was to assess the contribution of floral phenology to the productivity of cocoa. Cocoa like all tropical tree species exhibited seasonally-related phenological patterns involving overlapping cycles under both intrinsic and extrinsic controls. However, unlike most tropical plants, flowering was in the rainy season. The production of new pods or cherelles increased during the major rainy season (June, July, and August), but was evenly distributed from the minor to the dry season. Production of small and medium pods peaked in August whereas production of large pods peaked in October. There was a positive correlation between new pod production and pods abortion (r = 0.69; n = 100; P < 0.05). Temperature, light intensity, and rainfall positively affected production of floral buds and production of open flowers. However, rainfall had the greatest influence on the phenological cycle of the cocoa plant. The floral phenological pattern also coincided with the activity of the main pollinators of cocoa which resulted in enhanced reproductive capacity for increased production of cocoa.