The role of shade tree pruning in cocoa agroforestry systems: agronomic and economic benefts

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dc.contributor.authorEsche, Laura
dc.contributor.authorSchneider, Monika
dc.contributor.authorMilz, Joachim
dc.contributor.authorArmengot, Laura
dc.date.accessioned2023-02-15T06:35:15Z
dc.date.available2023-02-15T06:35:15Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description© The Author(s) 2022. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Version of Scholarly Record of this Article is published in Agroforestry Systems, 2023, available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10457-022-00796-x . Keywords: canopy closure; flowering; yield; pest and disease; income.
dc.description.abstractCocoa-based agroforests are promoted to replace monocultures for the provision of ecosystem services. However, shade tree pruning, an important tool to sustain cocoa yields, is not commonly implemented. This study investigates the effect of pruning on both agronomic and economic performance. In Bolivia, four famers’ sites were divided in half, and shade trees pruned in one of the two plots. Pruning resulted in a significant increase in cocoa yield, from an average of 430 to 710 kg ha−1 by boosting flowering and pod production, but not reducing the proportion of damaged pods, and of those lost to cherelle wilt. Additionally, scenario calculations using international and organic premium cocoa prices were conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility of pruning. The minimum, mean and maximum yield of 22 local cocoa-based agroforestry farms were used as reference for 25, 50 and 75% yield increase scenarios. Offsetting the pruning costs highly depended on the initial yield levels. Using the minimum yield, all scenarios led to a lower net income compared with no pruning. For the mean yield level, the net income was equal to that obtained without pruning when the yield increase was above 51%. At the maximum yield level, all increase scenarios resulted in a higher net income. Our results prove the importance of pruning agroforestry trees to increase cocoa yields. However, with current farm-gate prices for cocoa, farmers alone cannot cover the extra management costs. The cocoa sector should discuss different strategies to support pruning for a broader adoption of agroforests.
dc.description.sponsorshipAcknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the team of the Sara Ana research station and, most especially, Reynaldo Calle Miranda for his support in data collection. Also, Beatriz Choque for the schemes and information on the shade tree species in the agroforestry systems and Johannes Milz, Johanna Rüegg and Marco Picucci for the pictures. We appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions of the reviewers, which helped us in improving the quality of the manuscript. This research was supported by the SysCom Program, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Liechtenstein Development Service (LED), the Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development, and the Coop Sustainability Fund. Open access funding provided by Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.
dc.identifier.citationEsche, L., Schneider, M., Milz, J., & Armengot, L. (2023). The role of shade tree pruning in cocoa agroforestry systems: agronomic and economic benefits. Agroforestry Systems, 97, 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-022-00796-x
dc.identifier.otherhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-022-00796-x
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14096/283
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.titleThe role of shade tree pruning in cocoa agroforestry systems: agronomic and economic benefts
dc.typeArticle

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