PROPAGATION: Planting Material

Types of Planting Material

Clone
Hybrid (Vegetative
(Hand pollinated seed) propagation: grafting)

1. HYBRID
 Propagated from open or hand pollinated seeds
 Has an erect & straight main trunk that forms 3-5 main branches at the
jorquette
 Varies in yield, pod, bean characteristics & quality
 Yield ranges from 1.5 to 3.0 mt/ha/yr

2. CLONE
 Obtained by vegetative propagation methods such as cuttings, marcotting,
grafting & budding
 Clonal are recommended due to their high yield production (30-50%
more than seedling planting)
 They have similar tree morphology, pod and beans characteristics.

CLASS OF COCOA
 Class I
 Suitable for planting throughout Malaysia with good yield potential (>2.5
t/ha/yr)
 Tolerant to major pests and diseases

Class II
 Suitable for planting in selective areas with good yield potential (>2.5
t/ha/yr),
 moderately tolerant to major pests and diseases and
 possess good pod and
 bean quality (pod value <25, bean per pod >35 and average dry bean
weight >1.0g)

Class III
 Clones can only be planted in some locations
 Had good pod
 Bean characteristic with moderately tolerant to major diseases

Class IV
 Clones are generally susceptible to major diseases
 Weak plant characteristic and moderate in pod
 Bean quality (average dry bean weight >1.0g and high pod value)

Methods of propagation
 Budding &
Grafting
Green
vegetative cutting
propagation Budding
technique Side
Seeds Marcotting
Grafting
chip
Budding

NURSERY MANAGEMENT
 Site Selection
 Flat surface and not too undulating. If the site is prone to flooding,
drainage should be constructed.
 Situated near to the source of clean water and preferably near to a good
availability of fertile topsoil.
 Always clean and free from debris. Accessibility path inside the nursery
should also be constructed.

Seed Selection
 Seeds should be large and collected from recommended sources.
 Seed sowing normally carried out during the peak fruiting period to
ensure sufficient supply of seeds.
 An additional 30-50% of seeds are needed to compensate for seedling
loss during culling and budding failures.
 If clonal seedlings are required, budding activity should be carried out
during wet seasons because budwood can be easily obtained (normally
after flushing periods)

Soil Filling

 The soil is filled into the polybags until 2-3cm from the top.
 The polybags should be left for 1 week and watered daily prior to seed
sowing.
 20-30g GML is added to each bag if the soil pH is low.
 TSP can be added to the soil. Phosphate is added to enhance the root
development

Polybag Arrangement
 Systematic arrangement of polybags is necessary to facilitate subsequent
budding activities.
 Double rows with a walking path spaced at a distance of 45cm is
recommended.
 Seedlings must be separated at 2-3 months to accelerated growth and
prevent them from etiolating.
 A distance of at least 20-35cm from the side of polybags must be
maintained. Seedlings are spaced gradually if kept longer than necessary
in the nursery.

Shading
 Rain and extreme sunshine protection vary based on seedling age and
growth rate.
 To protect against excessive exposure to sunshine and rain, clear
transparent plastics, and black netting (60-70 percent light penetration)
fixed on timber frames located at a distance of 3m x 3m can be utilized.
 Fronds of coconut or oil palm can also be used to decorate the frames. To
permit movement and other activities, the structure's height must be built
appropriately (at least 2m).
 During the early phases, the initial amount of shade must be strong (70-
80 percent) and subsequently reduced with time.
 Prior to field planting, the shadow level in the nursery must be gradually
lowered to 50%.

Watering
 The seedlings are watered daily. Sprinkler or drip irrigation systems are
employed in large nurseries.
 Watering should be done early in the morning and late in the evening.
 If the VSD inoculums are high, watering should be done in the middle of
the day (10 - 11 am) to avoid the disease fungal spores infecting the
leaves.
 Mid-day watering would speed the drying of the leaves and prevent the
germination of VSD spores.

Weeding
 Weeding is done by hand in the nursery. Herbicides are not recommended
since they are harmful to seedling growth.
 Weeding in the nursery's immediate surroundings is also done by hand.

P & D Control
 Seedlings infected with VSD can be controlled by applying fungicides
such triadimenol (Bayfidan 250 EC) at 5-8mL in 18L of water every two
weeks.
 To improve the fungicides' efficiency, wetting agents and stickers might
be applied.
 To combat fungal diseases including Colletotrichum and Gleosporium,
copper-based fungicides are treated fortnightly. Pests such as
grasshoppers, beetles, aphids, and mealy bugs attack seedlings.
Broadspectrum insecticides should be sprayed every two weeks.

Fertilizer Application
 When the seedlings' first leaf has hardened, fertilizers can be added.
 Fertilizer blends or slow-release fertilizers like Nursery - Ace (10:10:5:2)
are frequently utilized. NPK Blue Special (12:12:17:2 + TE) or NPK
Yellow are two commonly suggested fertilizers (15:15:6:4).
 Fertilizer application should be stopped one month before to budding and
resumed one and a half months after the bud eye has sprouted.