Cacao Nutrition and Fertilization

Abstract

Cocoa is globally the third agricultural commodity traded in terms of value. The cocoa world production is relatively stable since 2010, amounting to around 4.5 million tonnes. Eight countries account for 90 % of the cocoa production, of which four West African countries. Under traditional cultivation practices, cocoa yields are poor with an average of ten fruits per cacao ( Theobroma cacao L.), even though it has a potential to yield more than 100 fruits. As for most tree crops, the yields are depending on many factors, of which the more important are planting material, climate, cultural practices, and soil. Cacao is cultivated on many types of soil, and in various conditions, from agroforestry systems to full sun. Soil degradation and low soil fertility are among the main causes of low cocoa productivity. However, despite this inherent low fertility, most of the cocoa farmers do not use fertilizer because they are not well informed of the agricultural and fertilizers issues.Here we fi rst review why fertilizers are used and how to optimize their effects, particularly farming practices and soil fertility management in full sun or shaded plantations. Secondly, we describe soil diagnosis and the foliar diagnosis, the two complementary approaches that were developed to assess the nutritional needs of cacao. The soil diagnosis provides a means to improve soil nutrient availabilities, while foliar diagnosis provides information on the cacao health. Third, we review the methods used to design fertilizer formulae and doses, and how they are calculated. Fertilizer inputs and mode of application are determined from the local conditions and farming practices. Finally, we review the effects of nutrients on the characteristics of the cocoa tree and cacao product. Finally, some current issues are discussed, such as the use of advising a single formula for a whole region or country and how to develop adoption of fertilizer by cocoa farmers.

Assessment of cocoa input needs using soil types and soil spectral analysis

“…In general, the top soil (0–30 cm) samples were slightly acidic to neutral in nature (pH = 6.34–6.99) for the four studied sites. Although cocoa may be grown both in acidic and basic soils, the ideal pH is 6–7 (Snoeck et al., ). In all cases, the clay content increased and SOC declined with increase in soil depth.…”

“…Interestingly, although the use of input generally increases cocoa yield both in terms of cherelle (young cacao pod of <3 cm) count and pod production (Byrne, ; Nelson et al., ), Appiah, Ofori‐Frimpong, and Afrifa () have reported no yield improvement in 33% of farms that received input application. Such mixed results are expected (Byrne, ) possibly because soil properties are often not included in making recommendations (Snoeck, Koko, Joffre, Bastide, & Jagoret, ).…”

“…Similar to several commercial crops, cocoa requires balanced supply of major nutrients such as N, P, K, Ca and Mg for sustainable yield (De Geus, ; Kihara et al., ; Wessel, ). Nutrient management also requires information on how soil cations and nutrients interact (Snoeck et al., ). In general, dosing studies are conducted in which crop performance at various levels of input doses are used to create several levels of input recommendations (Havlin, Beaton, Tisdale, & Nelson, ).…”

“…More recently, Snoeck et al. () and van Vliet and Giller () have provided information on different input models that are available for optimizing cocoa production. One successful model is the ‘soil diagnosis model’ in which nutrient requirements are calculated based on the difference between nutrient contents needed by the cocoa trees and those currently available in soil (Dossa et al., ).…”

Evaluación de Trichoderma spp como Control Biológico en una Plantación a Pequeña Escala de Cacao

“…En la Tabla 1 se presentan los contenidos elementales del lixiviado. Estos valores se encuentran dentro de los rangos normales de los requerimientos de nutrición para las plantas de cacao (Snoeck et al 2016) a excepción del Ca y el Mg, por lo que futuros desarrollos de lixiviados con base en la cáscara del cacao para la aplicación de controles biológicos deberían incluir otros elementos en la mezcla que aseguren valores óptimos de estos dos compuestos para complementar apropiadamente la nutrición de la planta durante el tratamiento. Tabla 1.…”