Marcel Kablan Guy, Lazare Tia, Christophe Kouamé
Collection Sciences de la Nature, Editions Resol-Tropiques, 2020 - 98 pages

Cocoa production remains dependent on climatic conditions, which are increasingly uncertain due to their variation. In this context, the monitoring of cocoa production, which is at the heart of economic and development issues, requires a better understanding of the cocoa tree's response to climatic variations. The present study aims to respond to this concern by applying dendrochronology to the analysis of cocoa tree growth rings collected in the agro-ecological zones of Côte d'Ivoire. The reduced centred index and the Pettitt test allow the analysis of climatic fluctuations over the period 1960-2015. The results confirm a significant rainfall deficit, ranging from 5% to 17%, and a rise in average temperatures ranging from 0.30°C to 0.70°C. In addition, the analysis of the growth-climate relationship reveals that cocoa tree growth is sensitive to rainfall and average temperatures.