A trial was conducted aiming to determine the influence of CCP 76 dwarf cashew shoot type as source of bud for grafting, in Canto do Buriti county, State of Piaui (Brazil). The experimental design was a randomized block with 8 treatments, 4 replicates and 5 to 8 plants per plot. The treatments were as follows: shoot without leaves and beginning flowering; shoot with leaves and beginning flowering; vegetative shoot without leaves; vegetative shoot with leaves; shoot with dried panicles and without leaves; shoot with dried panicles and with leaves; shoot with opened flowers and without leaves, and shoot with opened flowers and with leaves. The work was carried out in a plantation originally seed planted. After plants decapitation and flushing of new shoots top working was conducted under direct sun light. During the juvenile phase were evaluated the percentage of viable grafting, plant height and canopy length (east to west); for the adult phase was evaluated the production (weight and number of nuts). The results analysis revealed that in a juvenile phase the percentage of viable grafting of 96% and the best development was obtained from shoots with opened flowers, irrespective of having leaves or not, followed by shoots in the beginning of flowering, with or without leaves. For the adult phase the best results were obtained with buds from flowering shoots, without significant differences in production, but significantly different from vegetative shoots with dried panicles.
budding; source of propagule; top working; crop management; Anacardium occidentale, L.
