Luis A. Orozco Aguilar ^1* Arlene López-Sampson ^1* ROLANDO CERDA ¹ Fernando Casanoves ¹ Oscar Ramirez-Argueta ² Javier Diaz Matute ³ Juan Carlos Suárez Salazar ⁴ Johanna Rueegg ⁵ Stephane Saj ⁵ Joachim Milz ⁶ Ulf Schneidewin ⁶ Argenis Mora Garces ⁷ Jairo Rojas Molina ⁷ Yeirme Jaimes Suarez ⁷ Eliana Baez Daza ⁷ Genaro Andres ⁷ Olivier Deheuvels ⁸ Enelvi Brito Sosa ⁹ Jaime Hinojosa Gómez ¹⁰ Ramon Eduardo Jaimez ¹¹ Melanie Bordeaux ¹² Sophya Reyes Espinoza ¹² Julian Pérez Flores ¹³ Alfonso Azpeitia Morales ¹⁴ Lorena Soto-Pinto ¹⁵ Marisela Salgado Mora ¹⁶ Cesar Arevalo Hernandez ¹⁷ ENRIQUE AREVALO-GARDINI ¹⁷ Luis E. Pocasangre ¹⁸ Antonio Gama-Rodrigues ¹⁹ Emanuela Gama-Rodrigues ¹⁹ Athina Koutouleas ²⁰ Eufemia Segura Magana ²¹ Pathmanathan Umaharan ²² Gideon Ramtahal ²² Anelle Holder-John ²² Paula Arenas ²³ Omar Dominguez Amorocho ²³ Osmary Araque ²⁴ Geover Pena Monserrat ²⁵ Leider Tinoco ²⁵ Carlos Caicedo ²⁵ Manfred W. Muller ²⁶ Fernando Texeira Mrendes ²⁶ Eduardo Somarriba ¹

• ¹ Centro Agronomico Tropical De Investigacion Y Ensenanza Catie, Turrialba, Costa Rica
• ² Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA), SPS, Honduras
• ³ Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA), Atlántida, Honduras
• ⁴ University of the Amazon, Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia
• ⁵ Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Aargau, Switzerland
• ⁶ Fundacion Ecotop, LPZ, Bolivia
• ⁷ Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (AGROSAVIA), Mosquera, Cundinamarca, Colombia
• ⁸ Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
• ⁹ Instituto Politecnico Loyola, SCD, Dominican Republic
• ¹⁰ Ministerio de Agricultura-Departamento del Cacao, STD, Dominican Republic
• ¹¹ Technical University of Manabi, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador
• ¹² NicaFrance Foundation, Finca La Cumplida, Matagalpa, Nicaragua
• ¹³ Colegio de Postgraduados (COLPOS), Montecillo, Mexico
• ¹⁴ Centro Nacional de Investigaciones en Microbiología Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Jiutepec, México, Mexico
• ¹⁵ The South Border College (ECOSUR), Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
• ¹⁶ Autonomous University of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
• ¹⁷ Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales (ICT), PER, Peru
• ¹⁸ EARTH University, San José, San Jose, Costa Rica
• ¹⁹ Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• ²⁰ University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
• ²¹ Centro Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria (CENTA), SAL, El Salvador
• ²² Cocoa Research Centre, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
• ²³ Federacion Nacional de Cacaoteros (FEDECACAO), COL, Colombia
• ²⁴ University of Los Andes (Venezuela), Mérida, Venezuela
• ²⁵ National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
• ²⁶ Comissão Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira/Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (CEPLAC), BRA, Brazil

A network of agronomists, researchers, and practitioners linked to cacao farming provided open access to their independent field trials across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). A centralized dataset was assembled using qualitative and quantitative data from 25 experimental field trials (hereafter referred to as 'CacaoFIT') spanning several LAC agroecosystems. This dataset was used to document the main traits and agroclimatic attributes of the cacao cultivation model being tested within the CacaoFIT network. By synthesizing data from an entire network of cacao trials, this work aimed to highlight specific design features and management practices, which may contribute to better cacao farming sustainability. The CacaoFIT network comprises 200 ha of field trials testing over 150 cacao genotypes and set up under different shade canopy design, management, and research goals. Small-sized trials were common across Mesoamerica whereas medium to large-size trials were distinct to South America. Cacao trials were 15 years old (on average) and ranged from 3 to 25 years of establishment. Most cacao trials were managed conventionally (i.e. 55%), while 20% were under organic practices and the remaining 25% presented both conventional and organic management approaches. Most field trials (ca. 60%) planted an average of ten international clones or national cultivars at high (1230-1500 plants ha -1 ) and medium density (833-1111 plants ha -1 ). Mixed shade canopies were the dominant agroforestry model, while timber versus leguminous shade canopies were also common. The diversity and depth of research domains examined across the CacaoFIT network varied widely. Agronomy and agroforestry topics dominated the research agenda of all trials followed by environmental services domains. Cacao physiology and financial performance were researched to a lesser extent within the network. Five featured field trials from CacaoFIT offered a set of technical guidelines aimed at informing cacao farming within similar contexts. This collaborative work is a scaffold to encourage public-private partnerships, capacity building, and data sharing amongst cacao researchers across the tropics.