Abstract

The strong climatic fluctuation observed during the major cocoa production period with reductions in rainfall and rising temperatures lead to a low graining index. This climatic situation makes cocoa marketing difficult for producers. The stability of quantitative productivity parameters in six cacao clones on farm was analyzed during the main production season. Flowering, average pod weight, number of beans per pod, average bean weight, bean size, and pod index were analyzed. The results obtained showed that the flowering intensity of the clones was high in September (49.07). The average weight of pods decreased from 511.38 g in September to 433.53 g in January. The average weight of a bean and the weight of 100 beans, respectively of 1.3 g and 125.62 g at the beginning of the season dropped in January to 1.13 g and 94.03 g. Clones C8 and C15 showed more stable agronomic characteristics, notably average pod weight, average bean weight, bean size, and pod index during the major production phase. These two promising clones could be used in the rehabilitation phase of degraded cacao plantation, given the stability of their agronomic characteristics.

Key words: Cocoa, flowering, pod index, yield.