Impact of Cropping Systems on the Yield of Cocoa Trees in the Daloa Department

Since 1978, C?te d'Ivoire has been the world's leading cocoa produce. However, cocoa farming today is faced with numerous constraints due to unsustainable cropping systems. Some authors advocate agroforestry as a solution. But, the relationship between agroforestry systems and cocoa productivity has not been well established. Our study aims to present the floristic richness, the cropping systems and the impact of these systems on yield. Data was collected in 60 plots of 400 m? each in which an inventory, dendrometric measurements and counting of the number of cocoa trees and pods were carried out. The study found that cocoa farms are rich in 55 species divided into 46 genera and 24 families. The analyses made it possible to define three cropping systems in the cocoa farms. These are systems without shade with the lowest yields and composed mainly of fruit species, light shade systems dominated by spontaneous species with the highest yields and dense shade systems dominated by forest species with yields between 500 kg/ha/year and 1000 kg/ha/year.