Climate Driven Responses in Cocoa for Tamil Nadu, India

Climate influences the spread of the any crop by imposing environmental restrictions. The present investigation was carried to understand the effect of climate on cocoa in various cocoa growing regions. In order to establish the relationship between weather parameters and cocoa productivity, Coimbatore, Theni, and Tenkasi were chosen as the study regions. Historical climate data was acquired from India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the past 30 years (1991-2020). Cocoa yield was simulated by using the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) and it was correlated with the weather variables such as rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, atmospheric water demand (PET), and crop water requirement (ET). Cocoa crop had positive correlation with rainfall and Actual Evapotranspiration. Whereas, both maximum and minimum temperature had significantly negative effect. Climatic conditions, such as decrease in rainfall, increase in temperature and increase in PET, would significantly reduce the cocoa bean yield. The anticipated increase in temperature and erratic rainfall distribution requires suitable management measures for sustainable cocoa productivity.