home    about    browse    search    latest    help 
Login | Create Account

Analysis of Dynamic Agroforestry Systems and Cocoa Plant Health in in Western Ghana

Bossi, Elisa; Fromm, Ingrid; Andres, Christian and Schneider, Monika (2020) Analysis of Dynamic Agroforestry Systems and Cocoa Plant Health in in Western Ghana. In: Proceedings Tropentag "Food and nutrition security and its resilience to global crises", 9-11 September 2020, Virtual Conference, p. 131.

[thumbnail of bossi-etal-2020-Tropentag2020-Proceedings_poster-p131.docx] Microsoft Word - English
13kB

Document available online at: https://www.tropentag.de/abstract.php?code=6W8Wcyap


Summary

Agroforestry can help mitigate the numerous negative ecological effects caused by cocoa production with full-sun monocultures providing at the same time the diversification of livelihoods through the selling of by-products. Because the high vulnerability of young cocoa trees represents one of the major constraint for farmers, this study in Western Ghana compared cocoa health and field management quality in monoculture and in agroforestry systems during the field establishment phase. Cocoa mortality rate, vigour, growth rate and field management quality were assessed on 20 Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) and on 9 monoculture fields aged one, two or three years. The results showed that cocoa mortality rate is lower and the growth rate is higher in DAF than in monocultures. Cocoa vigour and field management quality do not particularly differ between the two cultivation systems. However, management quality strong influences the three plant health parameters. With better field management, cocoa plant health is higher. Many factors not necessarily dependent on cultivation system were found to influence cocoa health such as field planting scheme and accuracy during weeding practices. On the other hand, shade percentage on the field was not a significant factor for higher cocoa health in DAFS. The findings highlighted the potential of DAFS and of good management practices to improve cocoa health during the vulnerable field establishment phase. For this reason, it is important to encourage farmers to diversify their livelihood with DAFS but also to sensitise farmers to improve the management quality to enhance cocoa health during the field establishment phase.


EPrint Type:Conference paper, poster, etc.
Type of presentation:Poster
Keywords:Cocoa production, dynamic agroforestry, field establishment of cocoa, field management, plant health, Abacus, 65177, Agroforst, Kakao, Afrika
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
cocoa products
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_331527
Subjects: Crop husbandry
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > Africa
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Regions > Africa
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Special crops > Cocoa
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agroforestry Systems
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:39195
Deposited On:09 Feb 2021 08:26
Last Modified:09 Feb 2021 08:26
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics