Effects of rock phosphate and PK mineral fertilizer on soil fertility and cocoa production in south-central Côte d'Ivoire

Acka Jacques Alain KOTAIX; Guy Fernand YAO; Evelyne Gévère Marise ASSI; Klotionoma COULIBALY; N’Dri Norbert KOUAME; Sandotin Sounta COULIBALY; Koffi Hypolith KOUADIO; Koffi Stanislas KOUAKOU; Walet Pierre N’GUESSAN; Diby Balet Françoise GOGBE; Koffi Emmanuel KASSIN; Louis Anselme KOKO; Mandela Elogne N’DOUBA; Kouamé Antoine N’GUESSAN; Gnion Mathias TAHI

doi:10.30574/wjarr.2023.20.1.1649

Effects of rock phosphate and PK mineral fertilizer on soil fertility and cocoa production in south-central Côte d'Ivoire

Acka Jacques Alain KOTAIX ^{1, *}, Guy Fernand YAO ¹, Evelyne Gévère Marise ASSI ¹, Klotionoma COULIBALY ¹, N’Dri Norbert KOUAME ¹, Sandotin Sounta COULIBALY ³, Koffi Hypolith KOUADIO ², Koffi Stanislas KOUAKOU ², Walet Pierre N’GUESSAN², Diby Balet Françoise GOGBE ¹, Koffi Emmanuel KASSIN⁴, Louis Anselme KOKO⁵, Mandela Elogne N’DOUBA ⁵, Kouamé Antoine N’GUESSAN ³ and Gnion Mathias TAHI¹

¹ National Center for Agricultural Research, Agronomy, Physiology Laboratory, Côte d'Ivoire, BP 808 Divo.

² Jean Lorougnon Guédé University, UFR Agroforestry, BP 150 Daloa.

³Péléféro Gon Coulibaly University, UFR of Biological Sciences, BP 1328 Korhogo.

⁴Mondelez, Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire 01 BP 5754 Abidjan 01.

⁵Cherifian Office of Phosphate, 25 BP 1908 Abidjan 25.

Research Article

World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2023, 20(01), 1221–1228

Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2023.20.1.1649

DOI url: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2023.20.1.1649

Publication history:

Received on 07 July 2023; revised on 23 October 2023; accepted on 25 October 2023

Abstract:

Côte d'Ivoire is the world's leading cocoa producer, but sustainable cocoa production is threatened by, among other things, the country's dwindling forest reserves and declining soil nutrients, mainly phosphorus. To remedy the decline in soil fertility, a study of a mineral amendment was carried out in south-central Côte d'Ivoire to ensure the sustainability of cocoa production. Specifically, the aim was to evaluate the effects of rock phosphate (RP) and PK mineral fertilizer on soil fertility and cocoa production at Divo, over three years of trials. The experimental set-up was a Fisher block design, with 4 replications for 5 treatments. The results showed that, in terms of soil fertility, treatments receiving rock phosphate generally had good assimilable phosphorus content (≥ 11.5 Cmolkg^-1), a Ca/Mg ratio of between 1 and 1.5, Mg/K≥3, (Ca+Mg)/K of between 12 and 40 and Ca/SBE x100 ≥ 68%. These ratios reflect not only good cocoa-growing soil, but also a good balance between Ca and the sum of exchangeable bases (SBE) and between K and the sum of Ca and Mg. On the other hand, all treatments had potassium deficiencies with (K/S) x100 < 8%. As for yield, treatments T1 (100%RP + 100% NPK 0-23-19) with 2953.44 Kgha^-1, T2 (90%RP + 100% NPK 0-23-19) with 2962.95 Kgha^-1 and T3 (80% RP + 100% NPK 0-23-19) with 2862.10 Kgha^-1 were the most expressive.

Keywords:

Mineral Amendment; Natural Phosphate; Soil Fertility; Cocoa Production; Côte d’Ivoire

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