The LTE was established on land which was under fallow for 20 years, covered with a secondary forest.
Climate properties
Variable
Time period
Value (range)
Units
precipitation
1439
millimeter
air temperature
25.2
degree Celsius
humidity
83
Percent
Design period: (2008—)
Design Type
Randomized complete block design
Description
Data are collected for cocoa yields and by-crops, labour time, costs of agronomic inputs and income from harvested products, tree growth, pest and diseases, phenology of cacao trees, climate and soil fertility.
Design description
Gross trial plots are 48m x 48m, while net plots are 24m x 24m. The experiment has the following 6 treatments replicated 4 times:
i) monoculture, full sun (in the cocoa production phase) with conventional management
ii) monoculture, full sun (in the cocoa production phase) with organic management
iii) diversified, shaded agroforestry system with conventional management
iv) diversified, shaded, agroforestry system with organic management
v) diversified, shaded successional agroforestry system with no external inputs, and
vi) fallow land (no crops) as a reference for biodiversity and soil fertility studies.
Number of plots
24
Number of replicates
6
Crop
Crop
Years grown
cacao plant
Factors
Factor name
Factor levels
farming system
organic agriculture
Uses legume cover crops, compost, biocontrol and manual weeding.
conventional agriculture
Uses synthetic fertilizers and integrated pest management.