Evaluation of cashew mother trees (Anacardium occidentale) for a selection oriented towards the production of grafted plants in Benin

Abstract

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is one of the main crops of economic value in many countries, including Benin. Several authors have addressed the varietal selection of high-performance cashew mother trees worldwide, and particularly in Benin, but some parameters such as tree crown shape have not yet been studied in depth. The present study aims to improve cashew productivity through the selection and evaluation of high-performance cashew mother trees in Benin. The methodology adopted consisted in identifying the most productive cashew trees in farmers' plantations in 30 communes, and collecting data during three rainy seasons (2020, 2021 and 2022). Principal component analysis was used to group the best-performing mother trees into three different agro-morphological groups. In addition, interferential analyses were used to compare the various parameters measured between the groups. In all, 553 high-performance mother trees with intensive or semi-intensive crowns were evaluated out of the 1116 selected from the 2388 potential mother trees identified. Three types of cashew tree groups (G1, G2, G3) were obtained, with respective average nut yields (44.1; 43.0 and 40.5 kg/tree/year), with respective average kernel contents of 28.9%, 29.2% and 28.4 % and respective average nut weights of 7.0; 7.1 and 7.4 g. These high-performance mother trees will increase the availability of healthy grafts for nurseries.

Keywords: Anacardium occidentale, mother tree, Benin