AGRO-MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF COCOA (THEOBROMA CACAO L.)

K.S. SHILPA¹, J.S. MINIMOL²*, B. SUMA³, P.G. CHITHIRA^4
1Cocoa Research Centre, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, 680656, Kerala, India
²Cocoa Research Centre, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, 680656, Kerala, India
³Cocoa Research Centre, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, 680656, Kerala, India
⁴Cocoa Research Centre, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, 680656, Kerala, India
* Corresponding Author : minimoljs@gmail.com

Received : 05-11-2019     Accepted : 26-11-2019     Published : 30-11-2019
Volume : 11     Issue : 11       Pages : 667 - 670
Genetics 11.11 (2019):667-670

Keywords : Theobroma cacao, Hybrids, Morphological characterisation, Diversity analysis
Academic Editor : Vipul N Kapadia, Utpal Roy, I S Chakrapani
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to Mondelez International (earlier Cadbury India Ltd.) for their continuous association and financial support for 30 years. Authors are also thankful to Cocoa Research Centre, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, 680656, Kerala, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.), being an introduced crop in the country and the material available has evolved from very limited population estimate of variability in a breeding population forms major step. Twenty cocoa hybrids were evaluated for the variability based on morphological characters. Eleven qualitative characters including colour of young leaf (flush), three floral characters (pedicel, sepal and petal colour), six pod characters (pod shape, unripe pod colour, ripe pod colour, pod apex, pod base and pod rugosity) and colour of bean were considered for the study. Hybrids showed wide variability in most of the characters considered. Diversity analysis was carried out using NTSYS pc version 2.1 software. Based on the similarity matrix, cluster analysis was done and a dendrogram was constructed by Unweighted Pair-Group Method (UPGMA). Thirteen clusters were obtained at 60 per cent similarity coefficient expressing the huge amount off variability present among the hybrids.

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