Relación entre el genotipo, productividad potencial y tolerancia del cacao al exceso de sales II. Estudio de la absorción y utilización del nitrógeno, fósforo, potasio, calcio y magnesio

Abstract

The relation between genotype, potential productivity and the ability to absorb and metabolize mineral nutrients was studied in several cacao cultivars, which were grown under two salt regimes in a water culture experiment. It was found that while the determination of the absorption curves for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium during a four-month period was useless to separate the high-beaving from the low-bearing plants, the evaluation of their inherent capacity to assimilate phosphorus under extremely high salt concentrations, proved to be another effective criterium for selection purposes. Even though a close direct relationship was found between genotype and metabolic activity, which is in agreement with the working hypothesis that in cacao salt tolerance seems to depend on the ability of the plant to produce new tissues at a fast rate, it is felt necessary to conduct further tests with a larger number of cultivars, before the physiological method for the premature selection of outstanding perennial plants is completely developed.