Cultural, biological and chemical control of Moniliophthora roreri and Phytophthora spp in Theobroma cacao ‘CCN-51’

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate different control methods of fruits diseases of Theobroma cacao ‘CCN-51’ in Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas, Ecuador. The treatments were a mixture of two chemical pesticides (Chlorothalonil and Pyraclostrobin) and a biological one (Bacillus subtilis) with and without fertilizers. In total there were 16 treatments with 3 repetitions, installed in a CCN-51 commercial cocoa farms and under a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The results showed that the use of fungicides (chemical and biological), decreased the incidence of "moniliasis" (Moniliophthora roreri), "brown spot" (Phytophthora spp.) and "cherelle wilt"; but the application of fertilizers did not increase the effectiveness of these products. The treatment only agricultural labors did not decrease the final incidence of "moniliasis", nor of the "brown rot"; instead, the final incidence of "cherelle wilt" increased. The number of cocoa fruits and yield were not directly related and the highest yield of dry cocoa beans corresponded to T2 [Agricultural labors + Clorotalonil (1 kg ha-1) (c/15 days) + Pyraclostrobin (0.5 kg.ha-1) (c/90 days) + Fertilizers (0.4 kg.ha-1) + organic fertilizer (2 kg/planta)], which also had the highest net income/ha.