Growth Performance of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Hybrid Seeds in Different Media

Abstract

Topsoil scarcity is among the top priority problems faced by cocoa nursery managers in the era free cocoa seedlings distribution to cocoa farmers in Ghana. The study sought to find a substitute media for nursing seedlings of hybrid cocoa seeds since the topsoil in most part of the country has lost its fertility due to erosion while others have become acidic through the excessive application of inorganic fertilizers. Materials and Methods: The materials used for the experiment included cocoa hybrid seeds, polybags, ruler and a pair callipers. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design. The study involved the use of 3 media (treatments) with 3 replicates. The treatments were topsoil (TS) (100 v), topsoil+sawdust (TSS) (50:50 v) and topsoil+poultry manure (TSP) (50:50 v). Ten polybags were filled for each treatment, making a total of 90 filled polybags and 2 seeds sown per polybag. Sixty seeds were used for each treatment making a total of 180 seeds for the study. Watering was carried out every morning for a period of two months. The experiment was carried out under a shade net allowing sufficient sunlight through. Results: Emergence rate was taken after two weeks of germination whiles survival rate was also taken at the fourth week. Data on height and diameter of seedlings were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). In terms of emergence, the soil amended treatments (TSS and TSP) exhibited higher emergence ability than the control (TS), however, they were not significantly different (p>0.05). The TS medium recorded the highest mean height for the four weeks period followed by TSS medium, however there was no significant difference between TS and TSS (p>0.05) but there was a significant differences between TS and TSP media (p<0.05). With regards to diameter, though TS recorded the highest diameter over the soil amended treatments (TSS and TSP) but there were no significant difference among them (p>0.05). Survival rate was highest in the TS medium 91.67% followed by TSS (78.33%) and lastly the TSP medium (53.33%). Conclusion: From the results, it is concluded that topsoil amended with sawdust (TSS) can support the growth of the hybrid cocoa (Theobroma cacao) seedlings and could be used as substitute to topsoil (TS).