Sexual compatibility in cacao clones drives arrangements in the field leading to high yield

Abstract

Sexual self-incompatibility is a very salient trait of woody plants, including cacao (Theobroma cacao L.). In this species, most commercial clones are self-incompatible and, therefore, productivity depends on pollen flow for fruit formation due to the combinatorial ability of each clone to accept or reject pollen tubes in the embryo sac. To determine the combinatorial ability of commercial cacao clones, artificial (manual) pollinations were performed between cacao clones of the same and between groups for three years. In total, 46 cacao clones of five geographical groups were evaluated: ‘FHIA’ from Honduras, ‘ICS’ from Trinidad and Tobago, ‘UF’ from Costa Rica, ‘CAUCASIA’ from Colombia, and ‘EET’ from Ecuador. The results showed that, except for ‘CAUCASIA’, there is a high level of inter-compatibility between groups. Cacao clones exceed the established threshold of 30% in Fruit Set Success when used as a female or a male donor. As expected, low self-compatibility rates were found among the clones studied. We propose the use of sexual inter-compatibility information for the design of planting arrangements to maximize cacao yields.