Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:20:37.718Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

GENETIC IMPROVEMENT AND COCOA YIELDS IN GHANA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2005

J. EDWIN  and
W. A. MASTERS
J. EDWIN
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University 403 W State St., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2056, USA
W. A. MASTERS
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University 403 W State St., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2056, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper documents the yield gains attributable to the breeding and distribution of new cocoa varieties in Ghana, using data from a 2002 survey of 192 fields in the country's key cocoa producing regions. We find that planting the more recently-released varieties is associated with at least 42% higher yields, and that genetic improvement accounts for much but not all of the observed correlation between tree age and cocoa yield. Fertilizer use is also very important, being associated with 19% higher cocoa yield per 50 kg bag of fertilizer. We find no evidence that varieties differ in their response to fertilizer, pesticide use or labour, and no evidence of a decline in the yield advantage of new varieties over the 17-year age span observed in the sample.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , October 2005 , pp. 491 - 503
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)