The Effects of specific Gravity of seed and the growth and Yield of Cashew

Abstract

he cashew nuts chosen for planting were part of a random sample of unselected nuts harvested from Tanganyika Agricultural Corporation production farms at Nachingwea. The nuts were cleaned and then graded into the five SG grades using different sugar solutions according to the method of Turner (1956). The trial was purely observational, five different grades of nuts being planted in separate lines adjacent to one another at a spacing of 30 X 30 feet, with guard rows. The nuts were planted in January 1959. Weeds and pests, particularly Helopeltis sp. were controlled as necessary. Records of girth measurements taken at ground level and nut yields were started in 1960. At Nachingwea the main cashew harvest period extends from October to December and therefore the trees were about 21 months old when the first yields were recorded. At the end of the 1963 harvest recording ceased as the tree canopies were becoming close together and it was likely that inter-tree competition would confound future results.