Insect Diversity of Cocoa Under Different Management Systems in Central and Eastern Regions of Ghana
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http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ INSECT DIVERSITY OF COCOA UNDER DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN REGIONS OF GHANA. BY GEOFFREY AKESSE-RANSFORD BSC. AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY (10508346) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY ENTOMOLOGY DEGREE INSECT SCIENCE PROGRAMME UNIVERSITY OF GHANA LEGON JULY, 2016 JOINT INTERFACULTY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR THE TRAINING OF ENTOMOLOGISTS IN WEST AFRICA. COLLABORATING DEPARTMENTS: ANIMAL BIOLOGY & CONSERVATION SCIENCE (FACULTY OF SCIENCE) AND CROP SCIENCE (SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SCIENCES), UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON. 1 http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ DECLARATION I hereby declare that all experimental works described in this thesis were carried out by me with exception to references made to other people’s works published or not but who have all been duly acknowledged. This thesis has never been submitted anywhere else for award of similar or different degree neither in whole nor in part. …………………………………………………… GEOFFREY AKESSE-RANSFORD (STUDENT) …………………………………………………… PROF. EBENEZER ODURO OWUSU (PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR) ............................................................................... DR. ROSINA KYEREMATEN (CO-SUPERVISOR/ CO-ORDINATOR ARPPIS) i http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ DEDICATION I wish to gratefully dedicate this thesis to the Almighty God who by His grace and mercies granted me with knowledge and strength to undertake this academic exercise. I again express my sincere gratitude to my parents, my uncles, my siblings and friends who have been with me throughout this challenging mo ments. I say a big thank you to all of you. ii http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I warmly express my profound appreciation to my supervisors Professor. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu (substantial Vice Chancellor of the Univeristy) and Dr. Rosina Kyerematen (ARPPIS Co- coordinator) for their objective analysis and valuable contributions in making my project work a success. Again, I specially wish to thank Prof Afreh-Nuamah, Dr. Maxwell K. Billah and all the Arppis lecturers at University of Ghana for making their offices available for me to undertake this work. I cannot forget the motivation and support I had from Mr. Nii Tarkie Otoo, Mr. Majid Mumuni, and Mr. Jonathan Acheampong all from COCOBOD. Another thumbs up goes to the entire department of the Monitoring and Evaluation team (Western South) Dunkwa COCOBOD, especially to the Deputy Manager Mr. Bernard Bilson, Miss. Akua Yeboah Oduro-Owusu, Mr. Bright K. Mawuli, and Mr. Eugene K. Odame for providing me with the necessary support during the research period. This thesis would not have been complete without the able assistants of Mr. Sampson Manu and Mr. Michael Gyasi district officers from Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) and Mr. Henry Davies (Taxonomist) for assisting me in the identification of the insects. I would also extend a hand of appreciation to all the Cocoa farmers who willingly gave their farms to me in the course of study. I will be forever grateful to Carnegie Corporation of New York through University of Ghana under the “Next generation of Academics in Africa” for their support. Finally, to all the 2016 M.Phil. Entomology and Biological Conservation colleagues especially Miss Ethylene Echep Forchibe, I say “ayekoo” and love to every one for a journey worth traveling. iii http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.......................................................................................................................................... i ............................................................................... ......................................................................................... i DEDICATION............................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ xi 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT .............................................................................................................. 4 1.2 JUSTIFICATION ............................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 5 1.3.1 Main objective ............................................................................................................................ 5 1.3.2 Specific objectives, ..................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................................ 7 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Origin and Botany of Cocoa ............................................................................................................. 7 2.2 Distribution of Cocoa ........................................................................................................................ 9 2.3 Cultivars and Classification of Cocoa ........................................................................................... 11 2.4 Cultivation of Cocoa ....................................................................................................................... 13 2.5 Cocoa Production in Ghana ........................................................................................................... 14 2.6 Economic Importance of Cocoa ..................................................................................................... 15 2.8 Major Challenges of the Cocoa Industry in Ghana ..................................................................... 17 2.9 General Cocoa Insecticides Usage in Ghana ................................................................................ 17 2.10 Mining effect on insect diversity .................................................................................................. 18 2.11 General Arthropod Diversity of Cocoa ....................................................................................... 19 2.12 Pollinators of Cocoa ...................................................................................................................... 20 2.13 Cocoa Insect Pest ........................................................................................................................... 21 2.13.1 Cocoa Mirids, Damage and Ecology..................................................................................... 22 2.13.2 Mealy bugs .............................................................................................................................. 25 2.13.3 Shield Bugs, Bathycoelia thalassina ...................................................................................... 27 2.13.4 Termites .................................................................................................................................. 28 iv http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/ 2.13.5 Cocoa Pod Borer (Characoma strictigrapha) ....................................................................... 29 2.13.6 Cocoa Stem Borer (Eulophonotus myrmeleon) .................................................................... 30 2.13.7 Aphids (Toxoptera aurantii) and Psyllids (Tyora tessmanni) .............................................. 30 2.13.8 Weaver ants (Oecophylla species) ......................................................................................... 32 2.13.9 Defoliators, Earias biplaga WLK and Anomis leona Schauss ............................................ 34 2.13.10 Grasshoppers ........................................................................................................................ 34 2.14.1 Biological Control .................................................................................................................. 35 2.14.2 Cultural control ...................................................................................................................... 35 2.14.3 Use of Resistant/Tolerant Varieties ...................................................................................... 36 3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS ....................................................................................................... 38 3.1 Experimental Site ............................................................................................................................ 38 3.1.1 Field and Laboratory Equipment ........................................................................................... 40 3.1.2