Correlation and Path Coefficient Analyses of Yield in Cacao(Theobroma cacao L.)

Cacao(Theobroma cacao L.)is an important commodity tree crop which produces the cocoa bean,a major source of income for most West African countries and many smallholder farmers.Declining yield of cacao is a major limitation to cocoa production in Nigeria.This study aimed at determining the correlations of the phenotypic traits that were related in the yield of the cacao genotypes.Nine cacao hybrids produced from some high-yielding parents in the research farm of Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria,Ibadan,Nigeria were evaluated from 2012 through 2017 in Owena(7°11’N,5°1’E),Ondo state,Nigeria.Character Correlations and Path Coefficient Analysis were used in the description of the performance of the genotypes.The study concluded that significant genotypic and phenotypic correlations existed among many of the pairs of the fruit and bean characters with one another and with pod index,suggesting a complex contribution of these characters either positively or negatively to growth and yield in cacao,and that fruit and bean traits are determinants of yield in cacao.