Abstract:
Field experiment was conducted at the University of Ghana Forest and Horticultural Crop Research Centre (FOHCREC) in Kade from October 2017 to March 2018 to evaluate the effect of deficit irrigation on the establishment of transplanted cocoa. The experimental design used was the split plot design and was made up of 3 irrigation levels namely no irrigation (NI), deficit irrigation (DI) and full irrigation (FI) and 2 mulch levels namely mulch (M) and no mulch (NM). The Kc at the end of the experiment was 0.76, 0.78 and 0.96 for NI, DI and FI respectively under no mulch treatment. The Kc for mulch treatment at the end of the experiment was 0.64, 0.71 and 0.80 for NI, DI and FI respectively. The cumulative ETc at the end of the experiment under no mulch was 376.77 mm, 378.29 mm and 409.83 mm for NI, DI and FI respectively. The cumulative ETc for mulch treatment at the end of the experiment was 369.16 mm, 389.06 mm and 392.62 mm for NI, DI and FI respectively.
High vigour scores translated to high seedling establishment with NI, DI and FI having an establishment percentage of 92%, 96% and 100% respectively under no much. The percentage establishment of cocoa for NI, DI and FI was 96%, 96% and 100% respectively under mulch. Irrigation and mulch did not have any significant difference in the plant vigour and percentage establishment of cocoa at P ≤0.05. It can be concluded that the effect of Irrigation and mulch could not be seen on seedling survival because of the high rainfall amount and short dry season during the experiment period.
