Abstract
A nursery experiment was carried out in Akure (rain forest zone), south-western Nigeria to study relative effect(s) of some organic wastes as fertilizers on growth performance, soil and leaf chemical composition of cocoa seedlings (Theobroma cacao L.) in the nursery. The experiment comprised of five treatments: Cowpea Pod Husk (CPH) (2.5 t/ha), cocoa pod husk ash (CPHA) (2.5 t/ha), kola pod husk (KPH) (2.5 t/ha), NPK15-15-15 (2.5 t/ha) and control (no fertilizer application). Each treatment was applied to 2.5 kg of soil filled polythene bags containing cocoa seedlings. The experiment was arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The organic wastes increased significantly (P>0.05) the plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, number of leaves, fresh root and shoot weights and dry root and shoot weights of cocoa seedlings. The treatments also increased significantly (P>0.05) soil and leaf N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, soil pH and organic matter (OM) content relative to the control. Kola pod husk (KPH) was the most effective in improving cocoa growth, leaf and soil chemical composition. Key words: Cocoa, growth, organic matter, NPK, cowpea pod husk, cocoa pod husk ash, kola pod husk.
Highlights
Cocoa is one of the most important tropical crops (FAOSTAT, 2006)
Cocoa is a major commodity crop cultivated in Nigeria and is a major raw material used in the production of cocoa powder, various chocolate based products, biscuits and confectioneries
Cocoa bean is used in cooking soup that has resemblance of okra and in treating various abdominal problems or ailments (Opeke, 2005)
Summary
Cocoa is one of the most important tropical crops (FAOSTAT, 2006). West Africa contributes about 70% of the world’s cocoa production. African farmers use very little fertilizer (8 kg/ha) compared to their counterparts in other parts of the agrarian world; Africa’s soils are increasingly depleted of nutrients (IFDC, 2008/2009). This is true with cocoa farmers in Nigeria. Ogunlade et al (2009) reported that more than 85% of cocoa farmers in Nigeria do not use fertilizers on cocoa. Reasons for this low usage of fertilizers vary from lack of farmers’ knowledge of the nutrients status of their soils to scarcity and high cost of fertilizers where available. The main objective of this study was to examine the influence of different organic wastes on soil, leaf chemical composition and growth performance of cocoa seedlings
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