Cocoa pollinators and approaches to enhance pollination in Malaysia

• Main Author: Azhar Ismail (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute 1990
• Series: MARDI report no. 138 (1990)
• Subjects: Cocoa > Malaysia; Pollination > Malaysia
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Plants use several types of external and internal barriers as their first defence mechanisms against herbivorous insects by interfering with their feeding, oviposition or even their use of plants as shelter, which includes hardness of the sclerotic layer. Therefore, knowledge of the sclerotic layer hardness and the timing of development can provide useful information for the development of an appropriate methodology for screening clones resistant to cocoa pod borer. Results showed that the hardness of the pod differed between clones. The sclerotic layer was apparent as early as two months after pollination, but was soft. No lignified cells were observed and cells only had a primary cell wall in the young pods. The pods reached the maximum hardness between four and five months, depending on clone. In some clones, the hardness of sclerotic layer gradually declines as pods ripen. A possible explanation of the decreasing hardness is that mature pods lose their firmness with the beginning of the degradation process of cell walls, which is a common phenomenon in other drupe fruits during the ripening process.