Carlos Alberto Spaggiari SouzaLuiz Antonio dos Santos DiasMarco Antonio GaleasSabrina SoneghetiJeferson OliveiraJorge Luiz Andrade Costa2014-04-042014-04-042009Braz. Arch. Biol. Technol. v.52 n. 6: pp. 1313-1320, Nov/Dec 2009http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/222The effect of six planting densities on cacao yield of a commercial hybrid mixture as well as the interaction of planting densities with the years were investigated. Crop data collected over a 14-year period (1977-1990) showed that it was possible to optimise the regional cacao yields by implementing high planting densities (2500 and 1736 trees ha-1). This was however only true for the first half of the crop period. In the second half, low planting density (1059 trees ha-1) attained the best yields. This change in the ranking of planting densities over the years confirmed the presence of density-year interaction. Alternatives to achieve high productivity in high planting density systems were presented and discussedenDensity-year interactionhigh productivitycocoaArticle