Cacao Yield Case Study

Cacao Yield Maximizing yield for farmers has become the main objective in business agriculture and because of this there has been a frequent reoccurring theme of large-scale plantations being less efficient in terms of yield than small-scale farms. Specifically, the smaller cacao yield in the large plantation is due to biodiversity, natural habitats, and most importantly, community ecology. The cacao plant's productivity is heavily dependent on their age, planting density, plant variety, soil fertility, climate conditions. Some issues that can inhibit yield are limited use of pesticides, high shade, but most importantly experience in cacao farming which potentially can correlate because the plantation just got a new manager (Fule, 2013).
There was 960 more present in the plantation with a relatively low N, leading to believe that they were in fact feeding on the cacao plants. The Conopomorpha larvae tunnels inside the pods and feeds upon them and in some young pods can infiltrate the testa and cotyledons of developing beans. Damage causes malformation, size reduction, and premature harvesting (Conopomorpha, 2017). The Conopomorpha has two main predators that act as biological control agents for the small plantation, they are Dolichoderus and Psuedomyrmex. Both of these species are more abundant by about 1007 and 675 respectively for the small farm and have higher N values indicating secondary consumerism. Larsen and Philott documented how Psuedomyrmex limited the Boremoths' damage and found in intensified plantations the species didn't have as much of an effect compared to small-scale polycultures as control agents, which furthers this biological rationale (Larsen & Philpott, 2010). Dolichoderus is alike a predator of the Conopomorpha, but also of the pest Cataenoccus. Figure 2 reveals the strong relationship with tree yield and abundance. Cataenococcus (cocoa mealybug) is a common pest and it feeds on the fruit, but more importantly can transmit Cacao swollen-shoot virus (CSSV) that reduces yield and kills cacao trees. Oecophylla (Weaver Ant) is another biorational regulator of this pest as well as others; when we compare abundance in each section of trees we see 990 more in the smaller farm indicating another reason for smaller yield. Fewer biocontrol agents against known pests of cacao implies an overabundance of primary consumers and therefore a reduced yield. Crematogaster and Azteca are two other species minimizing the pervasiveness of the nuisance species and as shown in the collected data, the small farm has 714 more Crematogaster, with its