Evaluation of different substrate types on the germination of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.).

Abstract

The general objective of this article was to evaluate the effectiveness of different substrate combinations on the germination of the national cacao variety at Finca Tigrillo, Chone Extension of the Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, in 2023. The problem is the effect of the high costs of commercially available substrates on cocoa producers nationwide, since research on the productive characteristics and costs of substrates is currently scarce. The research methodology employed was based on the inductive-deductive, analytical-synthetic, and comparative methods; the observation sheet technique was also used to evaluate the measurement variables of this research project. Once the crop data to be evaluated were obtained, they were interpreted using analysis of variance (ANOVA), which revealed that the highest germination rate was observed in treatment 4, with 99% of the average value across the three replicates. Regarding treatment costs, treatments 1, 2, 3, and 0 (control) each totaled 0. Unlike treatment 4, which cost $60 due to the material used (peat: $50).