Assessment of the agronomic performance of Malayan Yellow Dwarf × Vanuatu Tall coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) hybrid variety tolerant to lethal yellowing disease of Ghana in Côte d’Ivoire.

Journal of Research in Biology 


ISSN No: Print: 2231 –6280; Online: 2231- 6299 

An International Scientific Research Journal 

Original Research 

Assessment of the agronomic performance of Malayan Yellow Dwarf × Vanuatu Tall 

coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) hybrid variety tolerant to lethal yellowing disease of 

Ghana in Côte d’Ivoire. 

Authors: 

Zadjéhi Eric-Blanchard 

KOFFI 1,2* , Jean Louis 

Konan KONAN 2 , Raoul 

Sylvère SIE 1 , Didier-Martial 

Saraka YAO 1,2 , Yoboué 

KOFFI 1,2 ,Ysidor N’guessan 

KONAN 2,3 , Emmanuel 

Auguste ISSALI 2 , Thierry 

Lékadou Tacra 2 et Kouassi 

ALLOU 2 . 

Institution: 

1. Laboratoire de Biologie et 

d’Amélioration des 

Productions végétales, 

UFR Sciences de la Nature, 

Université Nangui 

Abrogoua, 02 BP 801 

Abidjan 02, Côte d'Ivoire. 

2. Centre National de 

Recherche Agronomique, 

Station de recherche Marc 

Delorme, 07 BP 13 Abidjan 

07, Côte d'Ivoire. 

3. Laboratoire de biochimie 

et science des aliments, 

Université Félix Houphouet 

Boigny, Abidjan, Côte 

d’Ivoire, 22 BP 582 

Abidjan 22. 

ABSTRACT: 

This article aims to study the agronomic performance of 18 hybrid progenies 

of coconut MYD x VTT and their parents VTT in Côte d'Ivoire. The evaluation was 

focused on the number of bunches per year (Nbb), the number of fruits per year 

(NBFR), copra produced per tree per year (Cop / tree / year) and per hectare per year 

(Cop / hectare / year). It appears from this work that the hybrids MYD x VTT produces 

9 to 11 bunches and 76 to 121 fruits, per year with the weight of 12.54 to 19.82 kg of 

copra per tree and 2.01 and 3.17t of copra per hectare. These values are statistically 

equal to those of PB121 + used as a control in the study. Progenies of d 5 , d 6 , d 8 , d 11 , 

d 12 , d 15 and d 18 give the best yields and similar to the control PB121 + . VTT Parent 

produce an average of 11 bunches 96 fruits, and 11.62 kg of copra per tree and 1.66 t 

of copra per hectare per year. Parent G 1 , G 4 , G 6 , G 7 , G 12 , G 15 and G 16 have the best 

yield. Heterosis effects were observed for copra tree (42.08%) and copra per hectare 

(50.04%). Parents that have better yields with best progenies can be selected for the 

seed production of MYD x VTT (tolerant and good yield). MYD x VTT hybrid results are 

advised to Ivorian and Ghanaian farmers to prevent expansion of this disease. 

Keywords: 

Hybrid coconut MYD x VTT, tolerant, productivity. 

Abbreviations: 

Nbb: Number of bunches per year, NBFR: Number of fruits per year, Cop/ 

tree / year: copra produced per tree per year, Cop / hectare / year: copra produced per 

hectare per year., MYD: Malayan Yellow Dwarf, VTT: Vanuatu Tall, WAT: West 

African Tall MYD x VTT : Malayan Yellow Dwarf cross Vanuatu Tall, MYD 

x WAT+ : Malayan Yellow Dwarf cross improved West African Tall, Bunch. 

Corresponding author: 

Koffi Eric Blanchard 

Zadjéhi. 

Email Id: 

Web Address: 

http://jresearchbiology.com/ 

documents/RA0448.pdf 


An International 

Scientific Research Journal 

Article Citation: 

Zadjéhi Eric-Blanchard KOFFI, Jean Louis Konan KONAN, Raoul Sylvère SIE, Didier- 

Martial Saraka YAO, Yoboué KOFFI, Ysidor N’guessan KONAN, Emmanuel Auguste 

ISSALI, Thierry Lékadou Tacra, et Kouassi ALLOU. 

Assessment of the agronomic performance of Malayan Yellow Dwarf × Vanuatu Tall 

coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) hybrid variety tolerant to lethal yellowing disease of Ghana 

in Côte d’Ivoire. 

Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(6): 1427-1440 

Dates: 

Received: 14 Mar 2014 Accepted: 04 Jul 2014 Published: 22 Aug 2014 

This article is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/ 

licenses/by/2.0), which gives permission for unrestricted use, non-commercial, distribution and 

reproduction in all medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 

1427-1440| JRB | 2014 | Vol 4 | No 6 

www.jresearchbiology.com

Zadjéhi et al., 2014 

INTRODUCTION 

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is the most widely 

cultivated oilseed plant in the coastal areas of tropics. 

The global area of coconut plantation is 12.05 million 

hectares (ha), of which approximately 88% are in Asia 

and Pacific and 5.27% in Africa (AMRIZAL, 2003). 

Besides its interest for millions of smallholders, this tree 

is of a global economic importance, is a source of fat and 

many industrial products (Bourdeix et al., 2005a). 

In Côte d'Ivoire, the coconut is the main cash 

crop on the coast where the vast majority of coconut 

trees are located. The surfaces used in this part of the 

Ivory Coast represent about 80% of the area of the 

Ivorian coconut grove covering 50,000 ha (Konan, 2002 

and Assa et al., 2006) and its culture has more than 

12,000 families (Bourdeix Konan, 2005). However, the 

economic challenge posed by coconut is compromised 

by several diseases, including the lethal yellowing which 

is the origin of the devastation of thousands of acres of 

coconut groves in the world (Van Der Vossen and 

Chipungahelo, 2007) including Jamaica, Mexico, 

Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire; 

phytoplasmas are responsible for this disease (Rohde 

et al., 1993). It is manifested by the fruit drop, yellowing 

and fall of all the leaves. On affected by this disease, 

coconut trees die within months, leaving a field bare 

trunks. This is a threat to the global area of coconut 

plantations and therefore its production. There is no 

chemical control and / or potential mechanics for its 

cure. The only possible solution to the fight against this 

disease is genetic method of selection or creating 

resistant varieties (Oropeza et al., 2005). Behavioral tests 

conducted in Ghana have identified sources of varietal 

tolerance which MYD x VTT hybrid (Dery et al., 2005. 

Bonnot et al., 2009). However, agronomic characteristics 

of these hybrid offsprings have never been studied. In 

addition, the disease is discovered in Côte d'Ivoire since 

2012 and is similar to that of Ghana (Konan et al., 2013). 

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the 

agronomic performance of MYD x VTT hybrid progeny 

planted in Côte d'Ivoire. This study will provide the best 

MYD x VTT progeny with dual ability of tolerance and 

good productivity offer for growers. VTT parent may 

provide the best progeny is also revealed by this study, 

for to be use in the seed production. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS 

Study site and plant material 

The test PBGC43 (Port-Bouet Genetics Coconut 

No. 43) is located on the plot 034 of Marc Delorme 

research station (5°14' and 5°15' north latitude and 3°54' 

and 3°55' W) in Abidjan in southern Côte d'Ivoire. The 

climate of the southern region of Côte d'Ivoire has four 

seasons, two rainy (April-July and October-November) 

and two dry (December-March and August-September). 

The average temperature varies between 24.50°C and 

27.73°C. The total insolation reached 2,238.3 hours per 

year with an average moisture content of 86.02%. 

Rainfall is characterized by an average annual 

precipitation of 1673.99 mm and the floor of Marc 

Delorme station consists of tertiary sands. 

The plant material consists of 18 hybrid 

progenies (coded d 1 to d 18 ) from crosses between 

Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD) and Vanuatu Tall 

(VTT). These crosses involved 18 male brood stock VTT 

(coded G 1 to G 18 ) and a female parent MYD using the 

technique of assisted pollination (Wuidart and Rognon, 

1981). Choosing brood stock VTT was conducted 

visually on the general morphology shaft. VTT were 

planted in 1988 on plot 022. Their progeny produced on 

the seed field plot 033 of Marc Delorme Station, were 

planted in 1998. 

Experimental design 

MYD x VTT Seedlings were planted following a 

randomized complete block design at a density of 160 

trees per ha with six repetitions (Fig 1). In each block, 

the repetition by progeny varied from 3 to 10 coconuts 

1428 Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(6): 1427-1440

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 

1 B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B 

2 B 4 10 1 9 15 12 15 4 10 20 1 12 16 19 3 20 5 15 2 19 13 7 4 1 B 

3 B 19 3 13 14 4 15 5 17 3 15 1 14 10 7 1 9 20 13 20 17 18 4 16 1 B 

4 B 2 20 8 2 8 17 16 16 17 2 5 8 20 2 5 11 19 9 4 14 11 19 16 7 B 

5 B 3 12 3 9 16 15 18 11 10 6 14 1 10 20 10 3 14 16 2 20 9 10 2 3 B 

Bloc 1 6 B 9 2 2 19 12 11 7 18 16 20 9 13 18 9 12 12 8 7 4 10 1 10 16 15 B Bloc 2 

7 B 10 19 11 16 10 7 20 6 10 4 12 20 3 11 18 17 5 11 18 20 6 16 14 17 B 

8 B 18 18 6 18 10 1 14 7 2 20 2 5 20 1 3 4 8 15 5 6 11 17 2 13 B 

9 B 11 4 5 4 18 6 18 16 10 4 4 19 15 2 20 19 15 10 11 1 5 14 7 10 B 

10 B 16 1 19 7 5 14 6 16 19 2 14 7 20 7 16 16 2 20 6 20 14 4 8 12 B 

11 B 14 10 2 4 17 15 19 2 10 4 19 6 4 16 2 11 6 18 4 3 11 15 10 2 B 

12 B 4 10 6 20 16 6 16 14 12 18 10 2 20 13 11 6 15 16 2 18 4 17 6 15 B 

13 B 2 20 15 10 3 14 2 15 20 10 5 12 3 2 7 10 7 20 9 1 10 5 3 16 B 

14 B 10 4 16 3 10 15 9 15 16 4 5 8 20 11 9 10 1 4 13 11 13 14 2 1 B 

15 B 2 5 14 2 4 18 11 7 14 6 2 1 12 19 18 17 19 6 19 8 16 20 4 5 B 

Bloc 3 16 B 15 1 16 4 20 6 11 9 17 8 2 6 8 3 5 16 20 7 14 17 9 10 16 7 B Bloc 4 

17 B 5 7 13 10 19 3 4 13 11 13 3 13 2 14 4 1 10 20 12 20 18 15 8 19 B 

18 B 1 17 4 2 9 16 7 15 19 18 19 17 4 20 10 1 16 15 18 17 5 16 19 4 B 

19 B 3 18 8 18 5 11 14 17 20 1 8 10 2 16 19 20 10 4 3 9 12 4 14 10 B 

20 B 14 16 20 2 10 10 20 9 19 6 16 19 17 10 2 5 7 6 11 1 19 2 19 6 B 

21 B 19 6 1 19 20 19 16 15 7 4 19 7 20 2 14 17 13 14 15 7 18 6 16 2 B 


Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(6): 1427-1440 1429

22 B 4 20 3 10 20 3 18 14 4 11 10 19 8 20 2 4 15 13 9 11 19 1 20 18 B 

23 B 2 10 2 16 1 11 5 7 16 15 14 6 10 12 13 19 17 7 3 10 12 8 19 5 B 

24 B 4 16 10 4 2 16 15 10 20 1 4 16 9 11 9 20 18 19 10 2 14 16 7 20 B 

25 B 10 6 2 6 15 19 7 14 5 2 6 19 7 16 17 5 14 8 1 3 6 20 4 19 B 

Bloc 5 26 B 4 9 8 18 5 20 19 18 12 7 18 9 13 6 19 18 7 14 14 10 11 16 10 11 B Bloc 6 

27 B 9 16 7 20 16 1 12 4 20 8 17 2 9 18 15 1 19 17 14 18 5 20 5 7 B 

28 B 10 17 4 15 14 2 13 5 3 15 13 20 2 3 12 4 10 16 4 3 16 4 10 6 B 

29 B 19 3 11 10 19 1 20 14 6 19 3 11 16 6 4 15 19 3 15 5 4 20 19 2 B 

30 B 12 19 20 17 15 19 3 7 19 6 10 4 2 19 4 17 1 19 16 20 6 7 9 19 B 

31 B 20 2 13 14 19 1 8 2 16 18 5 4 6 2 10 19 20 2 20 15 10 20 2 20 B 


32 B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B 

Figure 1: Experimental setup of the test PBGC 43 coconut Marc Delorme, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. 

NB: The numbers 1 to 18 correspond to the 18 progenies NJM x GVT. Numbers 19 and 20 are respectively hybrid NJM x GOA improved and unimproved. The 

NJM x GOA improved or PB121 + is derived from a cross between the female parent NJM and improved GOA (GOA male parent + ). At the NJM x GOA 

unimproved or PB121 the male parent GOA is not improved. 



and each block is composed of 10 lines of 12 trees. The 

lines 1 and 32 and the trees 1 and 26 constitutes the 

borders. A total of 832 coconut trees have been planted 

on an area of 5.2 ha. The PB121 + 

hybrids from the 

crossing of MYD and WAT + (MYD x WAT + ) have been 

used as control. The PB121 + coconut trees stay the more 

popularized in the world and ever studied (BOURDEIX 

et al., 2005a). 

METHODS 

Variable number of bunches per year (Nbb), 

number of fruits per year (NBFR), weight of copra per 

tree per year (Cop / tree / year), weight of copra per 

hectare per year (Cop / hectare / year) were considered 

for the analysis. Production data of the adulthood where 

productivity is stabilized (from 9 years) were collected 

on the progeny of MYD x VTT (Malayan Yellow Dwarf 

× Vanuatu Tall) and VTT (Vanuatu Tall). Productivity of 

MYD x VTT has been compared to that of MYD x 

WAT+ (Malayan Yellow Dwarf x Improved West 

African Tall) used as a control. 

All data obtained were subjected to statistical 

analysis. SPSS 16.0 (software Statistical Package for 

Social Sciences 16.0) and CDM 3.0 (Coconut Data 

Management 3.0) were used for this purpose. ANOVA 

and Duncan test at the 5% level were used to compare 

the productivity in MYD x VTT hybrid progenies and 

DUNNET test (5%) was used to compare the 

productivity of hybrid MYD x VTT with PB121 + . The 

student t-test at the 5% level was used to compare parent 

VTT and progenies. The heterosis effect was estimated 

using the following formula: 

(Average offspring - male Sire Average) x 100 

Average male Sire 

The strict sense heritability (h 2 ) was estimated by 

parent-offspring regression (Jayaraman 1999; Verrier 

et al., 2001). The regression coefficient is equal to ½ h 2 

when we only know the value of single parent and h 2 

when the values of both the parents are known. 

Cov (Pi, D) 

h 2 = 2b = 2x 

Var Pi 

b = regression coefficient, h 2 = heritability in the narrow 

sense, Cov = covariance, Pi = phenotypic value of the 

parent VTT i, D = phenotypic value of the progeny and 

Var = variance. 

RESULTS 

Evaluation of the productivity of hybrid MYD x VTT 

progenies 

MYD x VTT hybrids progenies have the same 

level of production plans. The probability P = 0.44 

indicates that there is no difference between hybrids for 

this trait. They produced an average of 9 ± 1 to 11 ± 1.35 

bunches per year (Table-1). ANOVA allows to 

discriminate MYD x VTT progenies for the number of 

fruits, the amount of copra produced per tree and copra 

per hectare. The descendants of d 9 have the lowest fruit 

production (76 ± 12 fruits), coconut tree / year (12.54 ± 

2.05 kg) and copra per hectare (2.01 ± 0.33t). For the 

same variables, the d 11 provided the highest values with 

121 ± 16 fruits per year, 19.82 ± 2.62 kg of copra per 

tree / year 3.17 ± 0.42t copra per hectare per year. These 

values of d11are not significantly different from those of 

most of the other progeny. MYD x VTT progenies 

produced an average of 10 bunches and 104 fruits per 

year; 16.51 kg of copra per tree and 2.64t copra per 

hectare per year. These progeny may then be classified 

into two groups. Firstly whose values are greater than the 

average and secondly those values below the average. 

The first group consists of progenies d 5 , d 6 , d 8 , d 11 , d 12 , 

d 15 and d 18 . The second group consists of progenies d 1 , 

d 2 , d 3 , d 4 , d 7 , d 9 , d 10 , d 13 , d 14 , d 16 , d 17 . 

In this test, the PB 121+ produced 10 ± 0.73 

bunches and 94 ± 5.69 fruits per year per tree. Copra 

yields per tree and per hectare per year are respectively 

15.58 ± 0.95 kg and 2.49 ± 0.15t. All values are 



Table 1 : Productivity of coconut hybrids MYD x VTT studied 

MYD x VTT Nbb/year NbFr/year Cop/arbre/year (kg) Cop/hectare/year (t) 

hybrides 

d 1 

9 ± 1.25 083 ± 13cd 13.24 ± 2.05 cd 2.12 ± 0.33cd 

d 2 

10 ± 0.78 100 ± 14abcd 16.31 ± 2.31 abcd 2.61 ± 0.37abcd 

d 3 10 ± 0.89 090 ± 15bcd 15.45 ± 2.54 abcd 2.47 ± 0.41abcd 

d 4 

10 ± 0.57 101 ± 11abcd 15.61 ± 1.77 abcd 2.50 ± 0.28abcd 

d 5 

11 ± 0.68 114 ± 17ab 17.90 ± 2.68 ab. 2.86 ± 0.43ab 

d 6 

10 ± 0.65 108 ± 09abc 17.64 ± 1.53 abc.. 2.82 ± 0.24abc 

d 7 

10 ± 0.98 112 ± 24ab 17.21 ± 3.72 abc.. 2.75 ± 0.60abc 

d 8 

11 ± 1.35 111 ± 18abc 18.42 ± 2.92 ab… 2.95 ± 0.47ab 

d 9 

9 ± 1.24 076 ± 12d 12.54 ± 2.05 d..… 2.01 ± 0.33d 

d 10 

10 ± 0.73 104 ± 10abc 16.73 ± 2.00abcd... 2.68 ± 0.26abcd 

d 11 

11 ± 0.86 121 ± 16a 19.82 ± 2.62a.… 3.17 ± 0.42a 

d 12 

11 ± 1.11 118 ± 19ab 17.49 ± 2.75abc… 2.80 ± 0.44abc 

d 13 

10 ± 1.06 106 ± 15abc 17.43 ± 2.50abc… 2.79 ± 0.40abc 

d 14 

10 ± 1.25 097 ± 25abcd 15.12 ± 3.84bcd… 2.42 ± 0.61bcd 

d 15 

11 ± 0.66 113 ± 16ab 18.94 ± 2.74ab… 3.03 ± 0.44ab 

d 16 

10 ± 0.76 101 ± 18abcd 14.70 ± 2.60bcd 2.35 ± 0.42bcd 

d 17 

10 ± 0.71 101 ± 14abcd 16.12 ± 2.19abcd 2.58 ± 0.35abcd 

d 18 

11 ± 1.10 116 ± 21ab 16.55 ± 2.96abcd 2.65 ± 0.47abcd 

Average 10 ± 1.00 104 ± 18... 16.51 ± 2.91… 2.64 ± 0.47... 

Nbb/year= Number of bunches per year, NbFr/year= Number of fruits per year, Cop/arbre/year= Copra product 

per tree per year, Cop/hectare/year= Copra product per hectare per year 

statistically identical to the 18 MYD x VTT progenies 

studied (Table -2). 

Evaluation of the productivity of VTT parent 

Number of bunches produced per year differs 

from VTT Parent with a significant probability of 

P = 0.016. The number of fruits, weight of copra per tree 

per year and the weight of copra per hectare per year 

permit with the probabilities P


Table 2: Comparison of the productivity of MYD x VTT hybrid witness PB 121 + (t test of DUNETT @5%) interval. 

Variables 

Nbb 

NbFr 

MYD x VTT 


d 1 

Control P Variables 

0.98 

MYD x VTT 


Control 

d 2 1.00 d 2 1.00 

d 3 1.00 d 3 1.00 

d 4 1.00 d 4 1.00 

d 5 1.00 d 5 0.88 

d 6 1.00 d 6 0.94 

d 7 1.00 d 7 0.99 

d 8 0.90 d 8 0.68 

d 9 0.73 Crop/tree/year d 9 0.61 

d 19 (10 ± 0.73) 

d 

(kg) 

19 (15.58 ± 0.95) 

d 10 1.00 d 10 1.00 

d 11 0.99 d 11 0.20 

d 12 0.98 d 12 0.97 

d 13 1.00 d 13 0.98 

d 14 1.00 d 14 1.00 

d 15 0.99 d 15 0.47 

d 16 1.00 d 16 1.00 

d 17 1.00 d 17 1.00 

d 18 0.96 d 18 1.00 

d 1 

0.99 

d 2 1.00 d 2 1.00 

d 3 1.00 d 3 1.00 

d 4 1.00 d 4 1.00 

d 5 0.56 d 5 0.88 

d 6 0.91 d 6 0.94 

d 7 0.71 d 7 0.99 

d 8 0.76 d 8 0.68 

d 9 0.69 Crop/hectare/ d 9 0.61 

d 19 (94 ±5.69) 

d 

year (t) 

19 (2.49 ± 0.15) 

d 10 0.99 d 10 1.00 

d 11 0.18 d 11 0.20 

d 12 0.33 d 12 0.97 

d 13 0.97 d 13 0.98 

d 14 1.00 d 14 1.00 

d 15 0.62 d 15 0.47 

d 16 1.00 d 16 1.00 

d 17 1.00 d 17 1.00 

d 18 0.40 d 18 1.00 

Nbb/year= Number of bunches per year, NbFr/year= Number of fruits per year, Cop/tree/year= Copra product per 

tree per year, Cop/hectare/year= Copra product per hectare per year 

d 1 

d 1 

P 

0.88 

0.88 



Table 3 : Productivity 18 parent males coconut VTT studied 

VTT Nbb / year NbFr/year Cop/tree/year (Kg) Cop/hectare/year (t) 

G 1 

13 ± 1 a 145 ± 44a. 22.20 ± 6.77a 3.18 ± 0.97a 

G 2 11 ± 2 ab 085 ± 36abc 06.76 ± 2.88cde 0.97 ± 0.41cde 

G 3 08 ± 1 b 029 ± 20c. 04.53 ± 3.20e. 0.65 ± 0.46e. 

G 4 11 ± 3 ab 114 ± 62ab 20.01 ± 10.98ab 2.86 ± 1.57ab 

G 5 11 ± 2 ab 078 ± 43abc 06.37 ± 3.49cde 0.91 ± 0.50cde 

G 6 12 ± 4ab 116 ± 56ab 14.72 ± 7.11abcd 2.10 ± 1.02abcd 

G 7 12 ± 3ab 128 ± 61ab 13.14 ± 6.32bcde 1.88 ± 0.90bcde 

G 8 11 ± 3ab 096 ± 44abc 15.66 ± 7.25abcd 2.24 ± 1.04abcd 

G 9 10 ± 2ab 063 ± 25bc 06.81 ± 2.72cde 0.97 ± 0.39cde 

G 10 10 ± 2ab 073 ± 33abc 09.16 ± 4.16cde 1.31 ± 0.60cde 

G 11 09 ± 3ab 060 ± 36bc 05.98 ± 3.55de 0.86 ± 0.51de 

G 12 12 ± 3ab 121 ± 51ab 12.80 ± 5.39bcde 1.83 ± 0.77bcde 

G 13 10 ± 2ab 067 ± 31abc 08.59 ± 3.97cde 1.23 ± 0.57cde 

G 14 12 ± 3ab 105 ± 71abc 10.58 ± 7.14cde 1.51 ± 1.02cde 

G 15 14 ± 3a 146 ± 64a 16.08 ± 7.00abc 2.30 ± 1.00abc 

G 16 13 ± 2a 132 ± 35ab 15.97 ± 4.29abc 2.28 ± 0.61abc 

G 17 11 ± 2ab 072 ± 18abc 06.36 ± 1.64cde 0.91 ± 0.23cde 

G 18 11 ± 3ab 085 ± 47abc 11.44 ± 6.28bcde 1.64 ± 0.90bcde 

Average 11 ± 3.. 096 ± 53.. 11.62 ± 7.34… 1.66 ± 1.05…. 

Nbb/year= Number of bunches per year, NbFr/year= Number of fruits per year, Cop/arbre/year= Copra 

product per tree per year, Cop/hectare/year= Copra product per hectare per year 

The heterosis effect is almost non-existent for 

many bunch products per year (Table-4) in all progenies. 

Reductions of bunch production, materialized by 

negative values are observed (-2.27% to -27.19%) among 

all progeny except d 3 (25.61%), d 8 (0, 41%), d 11 

(24.01%) and d 13 (3.43%) who improved productions of 

bunches are observed. For the production of fruit, this 

value ranges from 15.43% (d 8 ) to 214.66% (d 3 ). Copra 

per hectare per year is raised from 2.98% to 281.6%. 

However, a loss of -33.27% is observed with progeny d 1 . 

On progeny average, heterosis effects were observed for 

number of fruits per year (8.33%), copra per tree 

(42.08%) and copra per hectare (50.04%). 

Low heritability values were observed for the 

production of traits are measured. Heritability of number 

of bunches, number of fruits per tree and copra per tree 

are respectively 04% and 10% (Table 5). 

DISCUSSION 

The realized trial compare coconut hybrids come 

from of the cross between a Dwarf coconut and the tall 

one. In practice, a simplified crossing plan was adopted 

when the two ecotypes crossed did not have the same 

variability levels. So for the improvement of the hybrids 

Dwarf x Grand, several male tall coconuts are tested to 

suppress the reciprocal test. Indeed, the dwarfs of the 

collection are autogamous, they have very low 

phenotypic variability and are probably close to the pure 

line. The results showed that the MYD x VTT progenies 

produces bunch per year. The MYD which is the 

common parent of all the progenies would have 

influenced the crossing and would have standardized the 

production of bunch. However, it is necessary to indicate 

that the progenies d 5 , d 6 , d 8 , d 11 , d 12 , d 15 and d 18 give the 

best results for the number of fruit per year and the 

copra/tree/year and the copra / ha/year. These progenies 

could be selected to farmers; otherwise, VTT parents G 5 , 

G 6 , G 8 , G 11 , G 12 , G 15 and G 18 could be selected to 

produce MYD x VTT seeds. However, some parents 

such as G 5 , G 8 , G 11 and G 18 that give the progenies d 5 , d 8 , 

d 11 , and d 18 with good productions, hasn’t a good 

productivity. Contrary to those, parents G 1 , G 4 , G 7 and 


Number of fruits 

Number of fruits 

Number of Bunches 

Number of bunches 


16 

14 

12 

10 

8 

b 

a 

a 

a 

a a b 

b 

a a 

a 

a b b 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a a 

a 

a 

a a a 

a a a b b a 

b 

a 

a 

dx 

Gx 

6 

4 

2 

0 

d 1 d1G1 G 1 d 2 d2G2 G 2 d 3 d3G3 G 3 d 4 d4G4 G 4 d 5 d5G5 G 5 d 6 d6G6 G 6 d 7 d7G7 G 7 d 8 d8G8 G 8 d 9 d9G9 G 9 d 10 d10G10 G d d11G11 G d d12G12 2 dd13G13 G d d14G14 G d d15G15 G d d16G16 G d d17G17 G d d18G18 G Parents and progenies 

Parents and progenies 

Figure 2: Comparison of the number of bunches produced by year of MYD x VTT hybrids with their 

males parents VTT (Student's t test at 5%). 

G 16 that have the best yield give progenies with low 

yield. It shows that the productivity of the progenies is 

not always linked to the one of the parents VTT. It could 

indicate that bunch production, fruit and copra is not 

heritable or are influenced by the environment. The lows 

heritability observed for the measured traits prove this 

hypothesis. It also indicates that the VTT parents that 

give the best progenies with good yield would combine 

themselves better with the cultivar Dwarf Yellow 

Malaysia. However with coconut, the choice of a tester 

in the progeny tests is a compromise between two 

contradictory necessities (BOURDEIX et al., 1991). 

Indeed, it has to be an representative of its original 

population and at the same time transmit high potential 

180 

160 

140 

120 

100 

80 

60 

40 

b 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

a 

a 

b 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

a 

a 

b 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

dx 

Gx 

20 

0 

d d1G1 1 G 1 d d2G2 2 G 2 d d3G3 3 G 3 d d4G4 4 G 4 d d5G5 5 G 5 d d6G6 6 G 6 d d7G7 7 G 7 d d8G8 8 G 8 d d9G9 9 G 9 d d10G10 G d d11G11 G d d12G12 2 d d13G13 G 13 d d14G14 G d d15G15 G d d16G16 G 16 d d17G17 G 17 d d18G18 

G Parents and progenies 


Figure 3: Comparison of the number of fruits produced per year by MYD x VTT hybrids with their males 

parents VTT (Student's t test at 5%). 


Copra/hectare/year (T) 

Copra/hectare/year 

(T) 

Copra/hectare/year (T) 

Copra/tree/year 

(kg) 


30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

b 

a 

a a b 

b 

b 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

dx 

Gx 

0 

d 1 d1G1 G 1 dd2G2 2 G 2 dd3G3 3 G 3 dd4G4 4 G 4 dd5G5 5 G 5 dd6G6 6 G 6 dd7G7 7 G 7 dd8G8 8 G 8 dd9G9 9 G 9 dd10G10 G d11G11 G d12G12 d 2 d13G13 d G 13 d14G14 d G d15G15 d G 15 d16G16 d G 16 d17G17 d G 17 d18G18 d G 18 



Figure 4: Comparison of copra weight product per trees per year of coconut MYD x VTT hybrids with 

their males parents VTT (Student's t test at 5%). 

of production to its progeny. Crossings between VTT 

parents in order to stabilize some traits of interest, before 

use in the production of MYD x VTT hybrid could 

improve and correct some pre-occupations on the 

productivity of the progenies. 

In this trial, MYD x VTT hybrids produced on 

average of 10 bunches per year; this average value is 

below one of the parents VTT. However, different results 

showed that Dwarf x Grand coconut hybrids give out 

more bunches per year than their male parents 

(BOURDEIX et al., 1992; LABOUISSE et al., 2005). 

The tall coconuts have more developed vegetative traits 

on the whole than Dwarf x Grand hybrids. Their more 

robust stem gives them the advantage to resist the 

drought more that the Dwarf x Grand. Therefore, these 

trees would keep a good level of production during the 

difficult periods than hybrids Dwarf x Grand. The 

coconut is influenced to the variations of the 

4 

3,5 

3 

2,5 

2 

1,5 

1 

b 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

b 

a 

a 

a 

b 

a 

b 

dx 

Gx 

0,5 

0 

d1G1 1 1 d2G2 2 2 d3G3 3 3 dd4G4 4 4 dd5G5 5 5 dd6G6 6 6 dd7G7 7 7 dd8G8 8 8 d 9 d9G9 G 9 d 10 d10G10 G d d11G11 G d d12G12 2 dd13G13 13 dd14G14 G d 15 d15G15G d 16 d16G16G d 17 d17G17G d 18 d18G18 G Parents and progenies 


Figure 5: Comparison of the production of copra per hectare per year of progenies coconut MYD x VTT 

and their spawning males VTT (Student's t test at 5%). 



Effets hétérosis (%) 

VTT/ MYD x VTT Bunches/year Fruits/year Copra/tree/year Copra/hectare/year 

G 1 d 1 -27.19 -42.46 -40.36 -33.27 

G 2 d 2 -05.46 17.97 141.27 169.94 

G 3 d 3 25.61 214.66 241.04 281.60 

G 4 d 4 -10.80 -10.95 -22.00 -12.73 

G 5 d 5 -01.82 45.55 181.17 214.62 

G 6 d 6 -13.05 -06.62 19.85 34.10 

G 7 d 7 -16.21 -12.80 31.00 46.57 

G 8 d 8 0.41 15.43 17.61 31.59 

G 9 d 9 -10.40 21.41 84.11 106.01 

G 10 d 10 -02.27 41.81 82.69 104.41 

G 11 d 11 24.01 100.97 231.24 270.62 

G 12 d 12 -07.07 -02.30 36.67 52.91 

G 13 d 13 3.43 58.40 102.85 126.96 

G 14 d 14 -11.99 -07.74 42.95 59.94 

G 15 d 15 -21.46 -22.81 17.84 31.85 

G 16 d 16 -24.92 -23.48 -07.96 02.98 

G 17 d 17 -03.14 40.70 153.59 183.72 

G 18 d 18 -02.82 36.55 44.69 61.90 

On the average -09.00 08.33 42.08 50.04 

NB: Figures in bold represent losses 

Table 4 : Heterosis for the productivity of 18 hybrid progenies coconut 

MYD x VTT in relation to their spawns VTT. 

environment (ROUPSARD et al., 2007), that could 

explain difference between parents VTT and their 

progenies Dwarf x Grand for the bunch produced per 

year. 

In the trial the MYD x VTT hybrids produced an 

average of 2.64t of copra/hectare/year. This yield is 

lower to the one of the PB 121 + according the results of 

BOURDEIX et al., (1992) but is statistically identical to 

the one of the PB121 + used as control in our trial. Indeed, 

these authors who worked on the Station of research 

Marc Delorme found that between 9 and 12 years the 

MYD x WAT + Hybrids or PB 121 + produce on average 

of 17 bunches, 124 fruits and 4.06 t of copra per hectare 

per year. This difference would be due to the selection 



Table 5: Narrow-sense heritability for production 

traits in coconuts studied 

Variables Héritabilités (%) 

Régime 4 

Fruit 10 

Cop/arbre 10 

criterion of the parents. These researchers selected the 

parents producing more 20 kg of copra by tree per year. 

To the contrary in our trial the choice of the parents has 

been achieved visually on the good general aspect of the 

tree. Indeed, the initial objective of this trial was not to 

achieve an aptitude test to the combination of the 

individuals, but to provide to Ghana the coconut tree 

descended from the crossing between MYD cultivars and 

VTT for a resistance screening trial to lethal yellowing in 

this country. Otherwise the devastation of 

Pseudotheraptus devastans cannot be controlled. In this 

trial the damages of these insects have also been 

accessed. Unfortunately insecticide has not been applied. 

The comparative survey of the productivity of every 

progeny to his ascendant permitted to appreciate 

heterosis effects. These effects that are more observed 

with the copra by tree and by hectare showed the 

performance of coconut tree hybrids returned by some 

authors (BOURDEIX et al., 2005b). Heterosis that is 

generally observed at the individual heterozygote could 

explain itself by the effects of dominance and 

superdominance of the genes implied in the 

determination of the quantitative traits (QTLs) or by the 

interaction between two complementary genes 

(VERRIER et al., 2001; LU et al., 2003). The hybrid 

vigor or increase of the performance of the hybrids 

appear when the crossed individuals are genetically 

distant. Indeed, the crossing between coconuts and 

genetically distant would increase heterozygote and 

therefore the hybrid vigor. These results would indicate 

therefore, a good genetic distance between the Dwarf 

Yellow Malaysia used here as female parent and the 

parents males VTT. 

CONCLUSION 

The study assessed the agronomic performance 

of 18 Malayan Yellow Dwarf x Vanuatu Tall coconut 

hybrids coded d1 to d18 and their parent VTT codes G 1 

to G 18 . The results showed that MYD x VTT hybrids 

produces per year 9 to 10 bunches, 76 to 121 fruits, 

12.54 to 19.82 kg of copra by tree and 2.01t to 3, 17t of 

copra by hectare. These yields are statistically equal to 

the one of the control PB121 + . The progenies d 5 , d 6 , d 8 , 

d 11 , d 12 , d 15 and d 18 had the best yields. The parents VTT 

produced 8 to 13 bunches, 29 to 146 fruits per year 

4.53 kg to 22.20 kg copra by tree, 0.65t to 3,18t of copra 

by hectare. The parents G 1 , G 4 , G 6 , G 7 , G 12 , G 15 and G 16 

have the best yields. On the average of the progenies, 

heterosis effects have been observed for the copra by tree 

(42.08%) and the copra by hectare (50.04%). Parents G 6 , 

G 12 and G 15 who give the best yields and provide better 

offspring (d 6 , d 12 and d 15 ) are to be used for seed 

production MYD x VTT. These three types of best 

progenies MYD x VTT are advising farmers to prevent 

the spread of lethal yellowing disease in Ghana and Côte 

d'Ivoire. 

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Assessment of the agronomic performance of Malayan Yellow Dwarf × Vanuatu Tall coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) hybrid variety tolerant to lethal yellowing disease of Ghana in Côte d’Ivoire.

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