Abstract

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.), a tropical fruit tree, has been cultivated in the southern, eastern and northern of Thailand. Department of Agriculture Extension reported that the area of cacao plantation in northeastern has been increasing from 2018-2020. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth and yield of cocoa plants planted in the northeastern area. Two six month-old cocoa hybrid seedlings, Chumporn 1 and UIT1xNa32, were grew in rainfed single rows at National Research Centre Of Millet And Corn, Pakchong District, Nakhon Ratchasima province. 80% shading and mini sprinkler system for irrigating during dry season were added into the planting system. Growth data were collected from 70 cocoa plants per each hybrid after three, four and six months of transplanting. The results showed that more than 90% of two hybrids survived and all of them could develop new shoots after four months of planting. Apical shoots of both hybrids formed jorquette-like structures and fan branches after six months of planting. Besides, a percentage of jorquette-like structure formation and an average height of UIT1xNa32 hybrid were higher than those of Chumporn 1 hybrid.