Effect of translucent polybags on cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Seedling development and farm establishment success

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Abstract

Nursery and field experiments at Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, were laid out in completely randomised block and randomised complete block designs respectively, with 4 replicates each to determine the effects of sachet water polybags on cocoa seedlings performance. Treatments were (i) black polybags (17.5 x 25 cm), (ii) black polybags (13.2 x14.7 cm) obtained from input suppliers, and (iii) translucent sachet water polybags (13.2 x 14.7 cm) obtained from dumpsites. Data collected include moisture retention in polybags, seedling emergence, leaf chlorophyll content and fluorescence, seedling growth, dry matter accumulation and performance of transplanted seedlings. Results showed that the translucent sachet water polybags had no significant adverse effects on seedling performance in the nursery and farm establishment when transplanted at 3 months. Although maintaining seedlings up to 6 months in the nursery adversely affected the growth of seedlings raised in the small black and translucent sachet water polybags, their survival in the field were statistically similar to those raised in the recommended polybags. The proportion of plants jorquetting and average jorquette height 12 months after transplanting were not affected by the sachet water polybags. Long term growth in the field was improved in plants established with seedlings raised in the translucent polybags and transplanted at 3 months. Based on the results, it was concluded that the translucent sachet water polybags can be used to raise cocoa seedlings for farm establishment when the seedlings are 3 months old.