GERMINATION AND SEED VIGOR OF-18 VARIETY OF CACAO(THEOBROMA CACAO) PLANTED WITH TESTA AFFECTED BY THE LENGTH OF POD STORAGE

This study was conducted at the Employees Village, BRGY Fatima, General Santos City from March 09 to April in order to evaluate the per ñormance of UF-18 cacao seeds planted with testa by storing the cacao pods in different days and to determine the vigorosity of the seedlings. The .experiment was laid-out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with five treatments replicated three times. The application of the treatments was done before planting. The results of the study found that storing of cacao pods did not improve the days to 50% germination, percentage germination and seedling height of the cacao seeds. On the other hand, storing cacao pods in no time tended to exhibit better vegetative growth. The effects of the treatments on the growth of the cacao seedlings in this study appeared to be not well demonstrated at 25-day growing period. It is suggested to extend the study period beyond 25-day growing period so as t o determine if the initial treatment of storing pods can further encourage the growth and development of the seedlings.