The Effect of Soil Chemicals on Cocoa Productivity in West Sulawesi

Abstract

As Indonesia is one of the largest cocoa producing countries in the world, cocoa plays an important role in the Indonesian economy. However, cocoa bean production has continued to decline since 2012 in several cocoa producing regions in Indonesia, including West Sulawesi. The main problem for cocoa in Indonesia is the low productivity of the plants. The average productivity of cacao cocoa plants in West Sulawesi in 2019 was only 797 kg/ha/year. The productivity of the cocoa plants can reach 2,000-3,000 kg/ha/year. One of the causes of the low cocoa plant productivity of their cocoa plant is the mismatch between plant needs of and with soil chemical properties. This study uses quantitative methods with a deductive approach. Theis research took place in four districts in West Sulawesi, namely : Polewali Mandar, Majene, Mamasa and Mamuju Regencies. The determination of the 30 sampling point stations to provide representative profiles was based on cocoa productivity data. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between cation exchange capacity (CEC) and cocoa productivity. The amount abundance of exchangeable bases cations (Ca+, Ma+ and K+) hads a significant effect on cocoa plants in the high productivity category . There was a negative correlation between salinity for and cocoa plant productivity in the high (1500-2500 kg/ha/year) and low (<800kg/ha/year) productivity categories productivity category (1500-2500 kg / ha / year. Higher salinity causes lower productivity of cocoa plants. Likewise in the low productivity category (<800kg/ha/year). There was no correlation between pH H2OH2O pH with and cocoa productivity at all the representative profile points stations. There was a positive correlation between pH H2O pH and four other soil chemical characteristics, namely: C-Organic carbon, salinity, base saturation and the abundance of the number of exchangeable base cations can be exchanged.