Spatial Analysis of Diseases Incidence in Different Cocoa Genotypes (Theobroma cacao L.) in Yopal (Casanare), Colombia

Black pod and frosty pod diseases are reported as limiting in cocoa plantations in Colombia. Spatial patterns of incidence for these two diseases were evaluated during a thirteen weeks long period of monitoring in the field. Semivariogram and kriging interpolation were used to analyze the spatial behavior of black pod and Join Count and Moran's Index statistics were used to analyze the spatial behavior of frosty pod. The incidence of Black pod has a spatial dependence structure according to semivariogramas during the evaluation time, while spatial autocorrelation of moniliasis infection sites was randomly distributed among cocoa plants according to the Moran's Index. The estimated dispersion range of Black pod was from 21.74 to 40.23 m y the kriging maps showed the spatio-temporal progression of the disease during the evaluated weeks. The experimental conditions given and spatial analysis approach, contributed to the understanding of the spatial dynamics of two limiting diseases in three clones of cocoa in the Colombian Orinoquia.