Effects of Polybag Size and Seedling Age at Transplanting on Field Establishment of Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) in Northern Ghana

Cashew cultivation in Ghana has been seriously hampered by high cost of production. This necessitated investigation into practices that will reduce establishment cost and improve field performance of cashew transplants. An experiment was conducted at Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana’s (CRIG) substation at Bole (9° 01' N, 2° 29' W, altitude 309 m a s l) for optimizing the size of polybag to reduce volume of top soil required for nursing seedling, ease seedling conveyance and also improve plant establishment. Cashew seeds were sown in polybags measuring 17.5 cm x 25 cm (Large), 14.0 cm x17.8 cm (medium), 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm (small) and 10.2 cm x17.8 cm (smaller) and transplanted at 6 and 8 weeks after sowing. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Data collected included percentage survival and growth of cashew transplants two years after transplanting and ease of seedling portage. The results showed that seedling survival was not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by the size of the polybag and age at transplanting. However bag size significantly (P < 0.001) influenced plant growth. Large polybag size produced more vigorous plants in the field. Growth of plants nursed with the medium bag sizes were also superior (P < 0.05) to the small sized bags. Seedling age did not significantly affect plant girth and height but plant leaf number was significantly (P < 0.05) affected with 8 weeks transplants producing more leaves. Seedlings in medium and small sized bags were easier to be conveyed at planting time. It is recommended that polybag sizes 14.0 cm x 17.8 cm and 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm should be used to raise cashew seedlings and transplanted at 6-weeks old to achieve higher establishment success.