NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

COCOA

Theobroma cacao
Sterculiaceae
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

COCOA HISTORY
 Cocoa was introduced into Malaysia between
17th and 18th century
 1st record of cocoa plantation dates from 1778 in
Malacca
 In 1853, cocoa was not really commercialized
 In 1970 and 1980, cocoa cultivation developed
strongly
 the availability of appropriated land,
 very productive plants
 very high cocoa prices.
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

MORPHOLOGY

 The tree
 Two types of branches – chupon & fan branches
 Chupon – vertical & determinate growth
 Fan – horizontal & indeterminate growth
 Formation of height through jorquette, formation
of branches stage by stage
 Ideal height for first formation of jorquette is
range between 1-1.5m
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

MORPHOLOGY
 Root system
 Consist of tap root: 120 – 200 cm long
 Feeder roots : 20 cm from soil surface
 Lateral roots: 30 cm from soil surface
 Flowering & Fruiting
 Pollination carried out by Forcipomyia spp.
 5-6 months before fruiting
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

MORPHOLOGY
 Bean
 Beans or seeds in a pod are
attached to a placenta
 Surrounded by mucilaginous
pulps which differ in sizes,
shapes and colours
 Each bean has two cotyledon
(small germ or embryo)
 Number of beans per pod range
between 20-50
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

SOIL & CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS

 Soil
 Well drainage
 Clayey loam that has good structure with 1 m
depth
 Good topography – flat/less slope
 Good water holding capacity
 Rainfall: 1250 – 2800 mm/yr
 Temperature: 18 – 320C
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

VARIETIES / CLONES

 MCB C1, MCB C2, MCB C3, MCB C4, MCB C5

 KKM 1, KKM 2, KKM 3, KKM 4, KKM 5
 PBC 113, PBC 123, PBC 130, PBC 140, PBC 159
 Criteria selection of varieties:
 High yielding (potential yield > 2.5 tonnes/ha/yr)
 Average bean weight: >1.2 gram
 High in butter content: >55%
 Tolerance to pests & diseases
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Population of Cocoa
1. Criollo
 Pod colour: green to dark red
 Pod surface rough with five pairs of furrows
 Pod husk is thin, soft, deeply furrowed
 Pod shape are usually cundeamor & angoleta types
 Big bean size, rounded or oval shaped and superior
bean quality
 Trees are small with compact dense canopy
 Size of leaf: small & dark green
 Less tolerant to diseases
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Population of Cocoa
2. Forastero
 Primitive, small pods and flat beans
 Pod colour: green or red
 Bean size: smaller than Criollo and oval or flat in shape
 Bean quality is inferior to Criollo
 Pod husk: thin or thick and characterised with the
presence of an obvious sclerotic layer
 Pod surface smooth or rough
 Pod shapes are Amelonado and Calabacillo types
 More vigorous and more tolerant to diseases than the
Criollo types
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Population of Cocoa
3. Trinitario
 Variation in shape, size colour and pod surface
 The population is from the hybridization of
Criollo and Forastero
 It is vigorous and more tolerant to disease than
Criollo
 Bean quality varies between Criollo and
Forastero types
 Clones in this group are self-incompatible
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

PROPAGATION
 The best planting materials must have below
characteristics:
1. High production / yield (potential yield > 2.5
tonnes/ha/yr)
2. Quality seeds that has dry weight (between 1.1-
1.2 g/seed), uniform and low husk contain
3. Average bean size (>1.2 gram)
4. High in butter content (>55%)
5. More resistant of pests and diseases
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Seed germination and sowing

1. Break the pods using a blunt side of machete, or a
metal then separate the seeds.
2. Remove mucilage from seeds using saw dust or fine
sand. Seeds are cleaned and soaked in fungicide
solution (0.4% Thiram at 5 g/L) for 1-5 minutes.
3. Air dried the seeds prior to pre-germination.
4. Pre-geminated the seeds by scattering them
between 2 wet gunny sacks and kept away from
sunlight.
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

5. Seed germination occurs within 2-3 days and

selection for sowing should be performed within
7-10 days where more than 90% of them have
germinated.
6. The pre-germinated seeds are selected and
preferably sown in the morning. Caution is
exercised to avoid damage of the radical.
7. Germinated seeds are sown with its radical facing
downwards and more than three quarters of it
covered with soil.
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Grafting Techniques
1. Patch budding
2. Green patch budding
3. Chip budding
4. Side grafting
5. Top grafting
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Patch Budding
1. Use 3-4 months seedling, the apparatus and technique.
2. Make two parallel vertical cuts 4 cm long upwards on the bark
and a horizontal cut about 10 cm above the soil level.
3. A bud patch within a similar sized or slightly smaller than the
panel made earlier on the rootstock is then carefully cut from a
semi-brown bud wood.
4. Pulled out the rootstock bark exposing the cambium and insert
the bud patch carefully. Care should be taken not to touch the
inner portion of the bud patch and also the cambium of the
budding panel.
5. After inserting the bud patch into the budding panel, the flapped
bark on the rootstock is shortened. The remaining flap is used to
cover the bud patch. Secure the bud patch by wrapping (from
bottom to to) with budding tape.
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

6. Tip the rootstocks shoot to enhance the bud eyes

to sprout.
7. Open the budding tape 14-21 days after budding.
Green bud patch indicates a successful budding
while a brown colour shows otherwise.
8. Reduce leaves and remove water shoots on the
rootstocks when the scion starts to develop.
9. Cut the rootstocks in a slanting manner 6-8 cm
from the budding point when the scion is 10-15 cm
in length.
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

10. Tie the developing scion to the stem of the

rootstocks to develop an erect form of clonal
seedling with numerous branches.
11. The grafted seedling is transferred to the field 4-5
months after budding.
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Green Budding
1. 2 to 4 weeks old seedlings are used.
2. Take the bud sticks from shoots that have recently
matured and green in colour.
3. Make the budding panel on the seedlings just below the
cotyledon scar by making a 2-3 cm horizontal cut and
pulled out slowly downward.
4. Insert a bud patch of an equal size carefully onto the
budding panel and wrapped with parafilm.
5. The bud eye will sprout 14 to 21 days after budding. All
new shoots that develop below the cotyledon are
removed. Grafted seedling can be field planted after 4
months.
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Chip Budding
1. 2-4 weeks old seedlings should be used.
2. The bud stick is taken from flushing edges of branches.
3. Cut bud chip with sharp knife to produce chip bud wood with
2-3 cm length and width about 1/3 of bud stick.
4. The budding site on the rootstocks is tapered according to the
bud chip size.
5. Place the bud chip into the budding points upwards.
6. Wrap the bud stick 1-2 layers with parafilm or biodegradable plastic and
rootstock shoot should be cut off.
7. The bud eye will burst through the parafilm after 14 days.
8. Cut-off the rootstock stem 2-3 cm above from the budding site when the
scion begins to develop.
9. Budded seedling can be transplanted to field 4 months after budded.
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Top Grafting with plastic cone

1. 3-5 months old seedlings are used as rootstocks.
2. Cut the top of rootstocks 3 cm from semi-hardwood stem and the
recommended cleft site height is 20-30 cm from soil level in polythene
bag with 3-4 leaves remain at down parts of the cleft site.
3. Slowly cut the cleft site at the middle of the stem with 2-3 cm depth.
The lower part of the bud wood cutting is tapered slanting on two
opposite sides with 2-3 cm length. Each bud sticks consisting of 2-3 bud
eyes.
4. Place the bud stick into cleft upwards carefully.
5. Wrap the bud stick 1-2 layers with parafilm.
6. Cover the top of budded site with plastic cone and tie the bottom part
with raffia string to keep the scion moist.
7. Budded seedling can be transplanted to the field 2-3 months after
budded.
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA
 NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA

Side Grafting
1. 3-5 months old seedlings are used as rootstock.
2. Use bud wood cutting instead of bud patch. Each bud wood cutting
consist of 2-3 bud eyes. The bottom part of the bud wood cutting is
tapered to 2-3 cm on one side and 2-3 mm on the back side.
3. Make of about 2-4 cm in length and cut and 5-10 mm width on the
rootstock. The bark is then opened upwards and the bud stick cutting is
inserted.
4. Wrap the scion with a budding tape.
5. The budding tape is opened 21 days after grafting and the sprouting bud
eyes can be seen.
6. Remove all the leaves on the budded side when the scion begins to
develop. The scion must be tied to the rootstock to obtain an erect
branching.
7. Cut the rootstock stem 6-8 cm from the grafting point prior to field
planting. Grafted seedlings are ready for field planting 4-5 months after
grafting.
NAJ/FPA/AGR232 CHAPTER 9: PROPAGATION OF PLANTATION CROPS COCOA