Drivers of mistletoe (Tapinanthus bangwensis) density in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) agroforests in Ghana

Abstract

Mistletoes are parasitic flowering plants that attack plants like cocoa and kill branches distal to point of attachment. Consequently, cocoa farmers incorporate trees to provide shade to limit germination and establishment of Tapinanthus bangwensis mistletoe species, but without success. This study was conducted in South-Western Ghana to identify causal factors of mistletoe infestation using random forest (RF) regression. Spatial arrangement of cocoa trees was the most important factor explaining mistletoe density, which was significantly higher in farms planted at random than in rows. The results imply that planting cocoa trees in rows could mitigate mistletoe infestation of Ghana’s cocoa agroforests.

Keywords:

• Tapinanthus bangwensis
• cocoa agroforests
• shade trees
• smallholder farmers

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank cocoa farmers in Jomoro district, Western Region of Ghana, who participated in this study. Our special appreciation goes to the staff of COCOBOD at Elubo who facilitated our engagements with the cocoa farmers involved. We thank two anonymous reviewers whose valuable comments improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

Data available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions.