THE POTENTIAL OF COCOA INTEGRATION PLANTING SYSTEMS WITH OTHER ECONOMIC CROPS: CROP DIVERSITY
Authors: Rozita, O., Nurfadzilah, M., Helmi, S., Boney, M. and Nurafiza, A.
Journal Issue: Malaysian Cocoa Journal, Volume 13(2)/2021
Keywords: cocoa, economic crops, integration, planting system, planting density
Published On: 1/11/2021
Abstract
Integration is a combination of two or more crops or livestock in a piece of land to increase income. It has been practiced in many crops for years in many countries especially in the developed countries. Instead of increasing income to the farmers, integration can also reduce the effect of crop price fluctuation and failure of crops due to pests and diseases outbreak. In Malaysian Cocoa Board, we have tested several integration systems of cocoa with other economic crops to identify the suitable combination especially in order to increase income. The integration systems that have been investigated were cocoa-coconut, cocoa-oil palm, cocoa-fruit trees, cocoa-timber species and cocoa-herb. These integrations were studied in the aspects of the planting system, planting density, yield and income earning. Some of these studies have been carried out for years and some of them are still at the beginning stage. This paper will discuss further on suitability of combination in each planting system. The best combination of planting system gives the highest income to the farmers from both crops.