The effect of different day and night temperatures on the growth and physiology of Thebroma cacao under controlled environment condition
The cocoa plant is a valuable crop that is consumed all around the world. It is the third commodity crop after oil palm and rubber in Malaysia. However, an increase in global temperature may have an impact on cocoa production. Therefore it is important to have a good understanding on the impact of t...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Summary: | The cocoa plant is a valuable crop that is consumed all around the world. It is the third commodity crop after oil palm and rubber in Malaysia. However, an increase in global temperature may have an impact on cocoa production. Therefore it is important to have a good understanding on the impact of temperature on cocoa growth. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of a wide range of temperatures on the growth and physiology of Theobroma cacao, to study the differences between night and day temperatures and to determine the optimum temperature for the cocoa growth. 40 cocoa seedlings were put into 5 growth cabinets with different night and day temperatures ( 18°C and 30°C, 18°C and 36°C, 24°C and 24°C, 24°C and 30°C, 24°C and 36°C) for two months (63 days) under controlled environment condition. Destructive harvest data was taken three times along this period (day 0, day 30, and day 63) which included fresh weight, dry weight, leaf area and root weight. Non-destructive measurements were taken through the course of the experiment on the height of the plant, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll content. Treatment C (l8N, 360) had the lowest total biomass (14.61 g), while treatment F (24N, 36D) was 37.94g and treatment E (24N, 300) had the highest biomass (57.27g). The growth was not only dependent on the day temperature, but also on the night temperature. A large gap between night and day temperatures reduced the cocoa growth. The result also showed the optimum temperature amongst those studied for cocoa growth is the combination of 240C night temperature and 30°C day temperature. |
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| Physical Description: | viii, 45 leaves: ill. (some col.); 30 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-45) |