Influence of environmental factor (rainfall) on cocoa bean quality parameters.

Abstract

Cocoa bean quality attributes are influenced by environmental factors. Therefore, in this study the influence of one of the environmental factors (rainfall) on the bean quality attributes was evaluated. The result of this study indicated a weak positive and negative correlation between rainfall and each of the bean quality parameters. The average monthly rainfall does not have a direct and significant effect on shell content, bean size, fat content and recovery rate as indicated by the weak correlation coefficient (r). Simple Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine association between each of the beans quality attributes. There was no significant relationship between each of the bean quality attributes except between recovery rate and fat content.