Identification of promising materials from a seedling population of cashew based on nut number and nut weight

H. Salleh, T. B. Chai, N. Abd. Wahab, M. L. Bakri and T. Abu Abidah

Abstract

A description of over 4 000 seedling population of cashew planted at Sg Baging in 1967 is given. Yield distribution of the population showed marked skewedness towards small nut number with a mean of only 81 nuts/tree per year. A highly significant difference in cumulative nut number over a 9-year period of production indicates a large variation in yield potential among individuals. The year-to-year variation was also significant suggesting an alternating pattern in bearing habits. A method for selecting potential accessions based on average nut number and nut weight was developed. Four accessions appeared promising for further evaluation work, each producing5.4-7.0 kg/tree per year. Nut number was negatively correlated with nut weight (r = - 0.394**).

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