Efecto de la gallinaza en plantaciones de cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) en desarrollo.

Abstract

We studied the effect of the organic chicken manure on the growth and development of cocoa trees (Theobroma cacao L.), during their juvenile stage. The experiment was initiated in February, 1993, in three commercial plantations, 20 months old, located in the county of El Rama, Region V. During the following 14 months we carried out three application , comparing, the three levels of chicken manure (454 , 908 . and 1,362 g per tree and application) with mineral fertilizer (three applications , of 15-15-15fertilizers100 g per tree, plus one application of, urea 100 g per tree), and a check without any applications. A random complete bolck design was utilized and means were compared by, Duncan’s test and regression and correlation analyses were also made. The results showed that with the application of 1,362 g of chicken manure, a significatively higher effect over the initial production of cocoa, and an increase of the stalk diameter were observed. The applications of 454 and 908, of chicken manure resulted in production levels equal to those of the treatment with mineral fertilizers. In relation to plant height, we did not find statistical differences among treatments. The treatment without fertilizer , showed the smallest growth and lower production.