Morphological characterisation of cacao accessions at the ICG,T

To exploit the full value of the ICG,T, each accession needs to be characterised. Morphological characterisation provides information to aid the identification of accessions and to recognise important traits related to economic yield and potential constraints to yield.

The relatively slow progress in the genetic improvement of cacao in the past has been due to the long generation cycle of cacao, limited resources, and a narrow genetic base for breeding programmes. Judicial use of data from characterisation studies will allow selection of genotypes for future breeding programmes which consider genetic diversity, bean size, pod index in addition to other traits quantified in evaluation studies.

Full characterisation is a long, painstaking procedure, requiring significant resources. We are making every effort at CRU to improve the efficiency of the task; a short list of 22 descriptors (instead of the previously recommended list of 65) was adopted several years ago, and recently we reduced the size of samples of pods and beans, while still ensuring adequate accuracy in the quantitative data. As data becomes available, they are entered into a database at CRU and sent to the University of Reading for inclusion in the ICGD. By doing this, the information can be shared with potential users in a timely manner.

Project Staff
Frances Bekele
Gillian Bidaisee
Junior Bhola