E ISSN: 2583-049X
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International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies

Volume 2, Issue 5, 2022

Response of mineral fertilization on cocoa productivity



Author(s): Tchaniley Larounga, Kwasi Dzola Ayisah, Koudigue Roberto-Constant Yannick, Mawussi Gbenonchi

Abstract:

A cocoa fertilization trial was conducted on one of the experimental sites of the Togolese Institute for Agronomic Research / Center for Agronomic Research in the Forest Zone (ITRA/CRA-F) located in Zozokondji in the Agou prefecture. The tests took place in a cocoa plantation of hybrids in production, planted according to the 3 m x 2.5 m rectangular scheme and at a density of 1333 cocoa trees/ha. The trial was set up in a completely randomized design with four repetitions. The objective is to test the effectiveness of two fertilizer formulas (NPK-3-21-20+5MgO+5SO3+0.5B+0.5Zn+10CaO+PHYSIO S and PK 25-20+10CaO+5MgO+ 0.5B+0.5Zn) and to compare their performances with those of Ghanaian cocoa fertilizer (NPK 0-22-18+9CaO+7S+6MgO) and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer in order to improve the fertility of the soils of the cocoa plantations for an increase in their production. The treatments consisted of the types of fertilizers to be tested and their different application doses to be able to harvest 0.5; 1 and 1.5 tonnes of commercial cocoa per hectare based on the export of the different mineral elements by the plant. The fertilizer application was made in two stages each year (2020 and 2021) and spaced two months apart. The fertilizer was applied in a 40 cm crown around the cocoa tree over a radius of 60 to 100 cm. The results obtained showed that the PK 25-20+10CaO+5MgO+0.5B+0.5Zn and NPK 0-22-18+9CaO+7S+6MgO fertilizer formulas which are devoid of nitrogen remain the best in term of the number of pods and the yield of marketable cocoa.


Keywords: Fertilizer, Performance, Cocoa, Improvement

Pages: 343-347

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