EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON PRODUCTIVITY OF COCOA ON A MARGINAL SOIL IN SULAWESI, INDONESIA

SAHARDI MULIA; PETER J. MCMAHON; AGUS PURWANTARA; HUSSIN BIN PURUNG; FADJRY DJUFRY; SMILJA LAMBERT; PHILIP J. KEANE; DAVID I. GUEST

doi:10.1017/S0014479717000527

EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON PRODUCTIVITY OF COCOA ON A MARGINAL SOIL IN SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2017

PHILIP J. KEANE and

SAHARDI MULIA: Affiliation:
Assessment Institute of Agricultural Technology, South Sulawesi, Makassar 90242, Indonesia
PETER J. MCMAHON*: Affiliation:
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Eveleigh, New South Wales 2015, Australia
AGUS PURWANTARA: Affiliation:
Mars Indonesia, Jalan Kima 10, Makassar, South Sulawesi 90241, Indonesia
HUSSIN BIN PURUNG: Affiliation:
Mars Indonesia, Jalan Kima 10, Makassar, South Sulawesi 90241, Indonesia
FADJRY DJUFRY: Affiliation:
Indonesian Centre for Estate Crops Research and Development, Kampus Penelitian Pertanian, Bogor, West Java 16111, Indonesia
SMILJA LAMBERT: Affiliation:
Mars Australia, Ballarat, Victoria 3355, Australia
PHILIP J. KEANE: Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
DAVID I. GUEST: Affiliation:
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Eveleigh, New South Wales 2015, Australia
*: §§Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Article contents

Summary
References

Get access

Rights & Permissions

Summary

Reduced soil fertility and damage from pests and diseases have contributed to a decline in productivity of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) smallholdings in Sulawesi, Indonesia over the last decade. In a trial on a marginal, acidic soil in South Sulawesi, young PBC123 cocoa trees were supplied with compost, mineral fertiliser (NPK fertiliser and urea) or dolomite, alone and in combination. After 20 months, the trees supplied with compost were taller, flowered more profusely and had a five-fold higher dry bean yield than other treatments. Treatments had no impact on incidence of cocoa pod borer, Phytophthora pod rot and vascular streak dieback. All of the trees supplied with compost survived, while the control, mineral-fertiliser- and dolomite-treated trees had a mortality rate of 22–45% and symptoms of interveinal necrosis. Leaf concentrations of N, P and K were within the normal range in all treatments. In the control and mineral fertiliser treatments, leaf concentrations of Ca (0.28–0.30%) and Mg (0.11–0.15%) were deficient, but were higher in trees supplied with compost (0.78–1.21% and 0.26–0.29%, respectively). The Mg/K ratio in soil-exchangeable cations and leaves was increased three-fold by the combined compost/dolomite treatment. Supplying mineral fertiliser alone resulted in 3.3 cmol kg−1 exchangeable Al, compared to 2.2 cmol kg−1 in control soils. Since 10 kg tree−1 year−1 compost was supplied, a rate that is not practical on most cocoa smallholder farms, further investigation of cost-effective applications of organic matter in conjunction with appropriate formulations of inorganic fertilisers is recommended.

Type: Research Article
Information: Experimental Agriculture , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 1 - 20

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479717000527 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, F. (1984). Crop responses to lime in the southern United States. In Soil Acidity and Liming, (Ed Adams, F.). 2nd ed. Madison: American Society of Agronomy.Google Scholar

Adejuwan, J. O. and Ekanade, O. (1988). A comparison of soil properties under different land use types in a part of the Nigerian cocoa belt. Catena 15:319–331.Google Scholar

Agoume, V. and Birang, A. M. (2009). Impact of land-use systems on some physical and chemical soil properties of an oxisol in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon. Tropicultura 27:15–20.Google Scholar

Baligar, V. C. and Fageria, N. (2005). Soil aluminum effects on growth and nutrition of cacao. Soil Science & Plant Nutrition 51:709–713.Google Scholar

Bartlett, R. J. and Riego, D. C. (1972). Effect of chelation on the toxicity of aluminium. Plant & Soil 37:419–423.Google Scholar

Burger, M. and Jackson, L. E. (2003). Microbial immobilization of ammonium and nitrate in relation to ammonification and nitrification rates in organic and conventional cropping systems. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 35:29–36.Google Scholar

Chong, C. F. and Shepherd, R. (1986). Promising prang beser clones. In Cocoa and Coconuts: Progress and Outlook, 3–20 (Eds Pushparajah, E. and Soon, C. P.). Kuala Lumpur: Incorporated Society of Planters.Google Scholar

Daniel, R., Konam, J. K., Saul-Maora, J. Y., Kamuso, A., Namaliu, Y., Vano, J. T., Wenani, R., N'nelau, P., Palinrungi, R. and Guest, D. I. (2011). Knowledge through participation: The triumphs and challenges of transferring Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) technology to cocoa farmers in Papua New Guinea. Food Security 3:65–79.Google Scholar

de Geus, J. G. (1973). Fertilizer Guide for the Tropics and Subtropics. Zurich: Centre d'Etude de l'Azonte.Google Scholar

Fahmy, F. N. (1977). Soil and leaf analyses in relation to the nutrition of tree crops in Papua New Guinea. In Proceedings of the Conference on Classification and Management of Tropical Soils. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Society of Soil Science.Google Scholar

Hardy, F. (1958). Cacao soils. In Proceedings of the Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida, vol. 18, 75–87.Google Scholar

Hartemink, A. E. (2005). Nutrient stocks, nutrient cycling and soil changes in cocoa ecosystems: A review. Advances in Agronomy 86:227–252.Google Scholar

Hue, N. V. (2011). Alleviating soil acidity with crop residues. Soil Science 176:543–549.Google Scholar

Kurvitis, A. and Kirkby, E. A. (1980). The uptake of nutrients by sunflower plants (Helianthus annum) growing in a continuous flowing culture system, supplied with nitrate or ammonium as nitrogen source. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde 143:140–149.Google Scholar

Marschner, H. (1995). Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, London: Academic Press.Google Scholar

McMahon, P. J. (2012). Effect of nutrition and soil function on pathogens of tropical tree crops. In Plant Pathology, (Ed Cumagun, C. J. R.). Rijeka, Croatia: InTech. http://www.intechopen.com/books/plant-pathology/effect-of-nutrition-and-soil-function-on-pathogens-of-tropical-tree-crops Google Scholar

McMahon, P., Bin Purung, H., Lambert, S., Mulia, S., Nurlaila, Susilo, A. W., Sulistyowati, E., Sukamto, S., Israel, M., Saftar, A., Amir, A., Purwantara, A., Iswanto, A., Guest, D. and Keane, P. (2015). Testing local cocoa selections in three provinces in Sulawesi: (i) Productivity and resistance to cocoa pod borer and Phytophthora pod rot (black pod). Crop Protection 70:28–39.Google Scholar

Murray, D. B. (1967). Leaf analysis applied to cocoa. Cocoa Growers' Bulletin 9:25–31.Google Scholar

Nelson, P. N., Webb, M. J., Berthelsen, S., Curry, G., Yinil, D. and Fidelis, C. (2011). Nutritional status of cocoa in Papua New Guinea. Canberra, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.Google Scholar

Noordiana, N., Syed Omar, S. R., Shamshuddin, J. and Nik Aziz, N. M. (2007). Effect of organic-based and foliar fertilisers on cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) grown on an oxisol in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Soil Science 11:29– 43.Google Scholar

Panlibuton, H. and Lusby, F. (2006). Indonesia cocoa bean value chain case study. microREPORT#65. USAID.Google Scholar

Rengel, Z. and Robinson, D. L. (1989). Competitive Al³⁺ inhibition of net Mg²⁺ uptake by intact Lolium multiflorum roots: I. Kinetics. Plant Physiology 91:1407–1413.Google Scholar

Ruf, F. and Yoddang, (2001). Cocoa farmers from boom to bust. In Agriculture in Crisis: People, Commodities and Natural Resources in Indonesia, 1996–2000 (Eds Gerard, F. and Ruf, F.). Richmond: Curzon Press.Google Scholar

Ruf, F. and Yoddang, (2004). Tropical deforestation to forest cover dynamics and forest development. In The Sulawesi Case: Deforestation, Pre-Cocoa and Cocoa Migrations, 277--229 (Ed D. Babin). Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar

Shamshuddin, J., Muhrizal, S., Fauziah, I. and Husni, M. H. A. (2004). Effects of adding organic materials to an acid sulfate soil on the growth of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedlings. Science of the Total Environment 323:33–45.Google Scholar

Steiner, C., Teixeira, W. G., Lehmann, J., Nehls, T., De Macedo, J. L. V., Blum, W. E. H. and Zech, W. (2007). Long term effects of manure, charcoal and mineral fertilization on crop production and fertility on a highly weathered central amazonian upland soil. Plant & Soil 291:275–290.Google Scholar

Suthipradit, S., Edwards, D. G. and Asher, C. J. (1990). Effects of aluminium on tap-root elongation of soybean (Glycine max), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and green gram (Vigna radiata) grown in the presence of organic acids. Plant & Soil 124:233.Google Scholar

Tiessen, H., Cuevas, E. and Chacon, P. (1994). The role of soil organic matter in sustaining soil fertility. Nature 371:783–785.Google Scholar

Toxopeus, H. (1985). Botany, types and populations. In Cocoa. 4th ed., 11–37 (Eds , G. A. R. Wood, and Lass, R. A.). London; New York: Longman.Google Scholar

Van Lauwe, B., Aihou, K., Aman, S., Iwuafor, E. N. O., Tossah, B. K., Diels, J., Sanginga, N., Lyasse, O., Merckx, R. and Deckers, J. (2001). Maize yield as affected by organic inputs and urea in the West African moist savanna. Agronomy Journal 93:1191–119.Google Scholar

Wessel, M. (1985). Shade and nutrition of cocoa. In Cocoa, 4th ed., 166–194 (Eds Wood, G. A. R. and Lass, R. A.). Essex: Longman Scientific and Technical.Google Scholar

Woomer, P. L., Martin, A., Albrecht, A., Resck, D. V. S. and Scharpenseel, H. W. (1994). The importance and management of soil organic matter in the tropics. In The Biological Management of Tropical Soil Fertility, 47–80 (Eds Woomer, P. L. and Swift, M. J.). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Sayce Publications.Google Scholar

Mulia et al supplementary material 1

Supplementary Figure

Image 20.3 KB