Pests and diseases of shade trees and their relation to cocoa in Papua New Guinea.

Abstract

In the 1950s, most of Papua New Guinea’s cocoa was grown either under coconuts or a leguminous shade, Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.). During the 1960s, increasing problems with pests of Leuceana transferring to the cocoa resulted in a gradual replacement of this shade with an alternative legume; Gliricidia sepium (Jacq). Currently, Gliricidia is the preferred permanent shade for establishing cocoa where coconuts are not grown. Pests and other problems with Gliricidia are discussed and the recent problems with establishing high yielding hybrid coconuts as permanent shade are highlighted.