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Malaysian Journal of Soil Science Vol. 11, 2007

Effect of Organic-based & Foliar Fertilisers on Cocoa Grown on an Oxisol in Malaysia

29

ISSN: 1394-7990Malaysian Society of Soil ScienceMalaysian Journal of Soil Science Vol.11 : 29-43 (2007)

Effect of Organic-based and Foliar Fertilisers onCocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Grown on an Oxisol in Malaysia

N. Noordiana1, S. R. Syed Omar1*, J. Shamshuddin1

& N. M. Nik Aziz2

1Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

2Cocoa Research and Development Centre, Malaysian Cocoa BoardP.O. Box 34, 28000 Temerloh, Pahang, Malaysia

ABSTRACTThe Malaysian cocoa industry is facing many problems due to cocoa beinggrown on marginal soils, such as Ultisols and Oxisols. These soils aregenerally acidic, low in basic cations and also low in soil cation exchangecapacity. A field study was undertaken to investigate the effect of organic-based and foliar fertilisers on soil fertility improvement, the growth ofmatured trees, yield and quality of cocoa grown on an Oxisol in Malaysia.The treatments (with four replications) consisted of T1: NPK (fertiliser)(control), T2: organic-based fertiliser + NPK, T3: foliar + NPK, T4: foliar +Ca-foliar + NPK and T5: organic-based fertiliser + foliar + Ca-foliar + NPKapplied on approximately 5-year-old cocoa plants located at the Malay-sian Cocoa Board Experimental Station, Jengka, Pahang. The results showedthat the combination of these fertilisers gave negative response on thegrowth, yield and quality of cocoa. For clone PBC 130, T2 (organic-basedfertiliser + NPK) gave greater pod weight compared to other treatments.Manganese toxicity is possibly the most limiting factor observed in thisstudy.

Keywords: Organic-based fertiliser, foliar fertiliser, cocoa yield, beanquality, Mn toxicity

INTRODUCTIONThe average yield of cocoa in Malaysia has shown very little increase and insome areas, it has actually decreased. One of the problems related to thedecrease in cocoa bean production over the years is low soil productivity, achievingonly 0.98 tonnes per hectare in 2003. This is far behind the targeted yield of 1.5tonnes per hectare (Malaysian Cocoa Board 2003). Some cocoa in the countryis grown on highly weathered soils known as Ultisols and Oxisols. The lowproductivity of the soils is due to acid reaction, low cation exchange capacityand high Al. The area under cocoa has decreased drastically. The decrease is

* Corresponding author: Email:[email protected]

MJ of Soil Science 029-043.pmd 08-Apr-08, 10:44 AM29


N. Noordiana, S. R. Syed Omar, J. Shamshuddin & N. M. Nik Aziz

attributed principally to low soil productivity, diseases and poor prices of cocoabeans. Areas which are suitable for cocoa are replanted with other crops such asoil palm and rubber while marginal soils are used for new cocoa production(Malaysian Agricultural Directory and Index 2003). Another problem related topoor yield of cocoa beans is cherelle wilt. Cocoa production depends on theamount of flowers produced and the percentage of flowers that turns into cherellesand successfully become pods. Normally, successful cherelles that form podsare only a small quantity (1 to 5 %) from the whole amount of flowers produced.About 60 - 93% of potential pods will vanish because of cherelle wilt. Cherellewilt is a fruit thinning mechanism (Kasran and Amirudin 1993). Competitionbetween cherelles and new shoots is one of the factors which causes cherellewilt. This may be due to competition to get nutrients and water not only amongnew cherelles but also among cherelles and new shoots (Omran 1988). Thisphenomenon may be also related to nutrient deficiencies or an imbalance innutrient supply.

Boron deficiency can cause incomplete formation of cocoa pod, but thisproblem cannot be solved solely by supplying boron since other nutrients mayalso be important. There might be some antagonistic effects between the nutri-ents which may disturb nutrient functions such as nutrient absorption and trans-location. Kasran (1989) has found that the wilted cherelles have lower nitrogen,calcium, magnesium, copper, manganese, zinc and boron concentrations com-pared to non-wilted cherelles. Calcium deficiencies in cocoa may lead toirresistance to fungus attack, and cherelle wilt will continuously occur even thoughthe formation of pods has completed. Therefore, one of the alternatives that canbe taken to reduce cherelle wilt and increase cocoa yield is to apply fertiliserscontaining all the nutrients needed for cocoa in sufficient amounts. Applicationof organic fertilisers produces a variety of organic acids during its decomposi-tion which form stable complexes with aluminium and iron, thereby, blockingphosphorus retention sites and resulting in higher phosphorus use efficiency incrops (Sharma et al. 1990). Besides the organic-based fertilisers, foliar fertilisersmay aid in supplying all the nutrients needed, especially during the pollinationstage and development of pods. Besides macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus,potassium, calcium and magnesium), cocoa needs micronutrients such as cop-per, manganese, zinc, iron and molybdenum for growth (National AgriculturalResearch Centre 1986). Cocoa yield can be increased with the application offoliar fertilisers because many soils and fertilisers cannot supply enough nutri-ents during the productive stage. Therefore, a field experiment was conductedto determine the effects of fertiliser treatments on soil fertility (Oxisol), thegrowth of matured cocoa, yield and cocoa bean quality.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Site and SoilThis experiment was conducted at the Malaysian Cocoa Board Experimental




31

Station, Jengka, Pahang. The soil was Segamat Series (Jabatan PertanianSemenanjung Malaysia 1993), which belongs to the clayey, oxidic,isohyperthermic family of Typic Hapludox (according to soil taxonomy).

Experimental Treatments and DesignOrganic-based, foliar and calcium-foliar fertilisers were used in this study. Thefive treatments with four replications consisted of T1: NPK (control), T2:organic-based fertiliser + NPK, T3: foliar + NPK, T4: foliar + Ca-foliar + NPKand T5: organic-based fertiliser + foliar + Ca-foliar + NPK. Treatments T3, T4and T5 (which consisted of foliar application) were applied monthly. Theapplication of foliar treatments was done in May 2004 to August 2004 (for thefirst season) and in December 2004 to June 2005 (for the second season), usingrecommended rates. Leaves were sprayed using motorised sprayer before 10o’clock in the morning, since stomata was known to be opened during this pe-riod. The application of foliar fertiliser was carried out on the whole cocoacrop, including the leaves, trunks, flowers and pods. Organic-based fertiliser(derived from composted sugar-cane waste with pH of about 8.0) was appliedagain after 6 months (November 2004) from the first application which was inMay 2004. NPK compound fertiliser (fertiliser grade, 12:12:17:2) was applied3 times per year (starting in May 2004, followed by September 2004 and finallyin January 2005), following MARDI’s (1990) recommendation rate of 400 g perplant. Organic-based and NPK compound fertilisers were incorporated into thesoil. The PBC 130 and KKM 22 cocoa clones were approximately 5 years old atthe time of the trial. Randomised complete block design (RCBD) was used inthis experiment with the block perpendicular to the soil gradient. Each plotcontained 12 plants and was surrounded by guard rows with planting distance of3 m x 3 m.

Plant Sampling, Soil Sampling, Preparation and AnalysesIn order to determine the nutrient status of cocoa, soil and leaves of clone KKM22 and PBC 130 at the experimental plots were sampled in April 2004 before thetrial. A random sampling of the soil was done with a distance of 3 m x 3 m,using a stainless steel auger. Samples were taken from two depths, 0 – 20 cm and20 – 40 cm. The soil samples were air-dried in a plastic bag. After air-drying,soil samples were crushed in a pestle and mortar, then sieved through a 2.0 mmsieve for the analyses of soil pH and other nutrients. The samples were stored ina plastic container. The analysis of soil and leaf samples was done in replicateswith 4 replications. The soil chemical and nutrient analyses included pH:waterratio 1:2.5 (McLean 1973), total N using Kjeldahl method (Bremner 1965),available P using Bray and Kurtz no. 2 method (Olsen and Sommers 1982),exchangeable K, Ca and Mg using ammonium acetate leaching method (Thomas1982), available Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn using double acid method – Mehlich no. 1(Soil and Plant Analysis Council 2000) and B using hot water soluble extractablemethod (Bingham 1982).




For plant tissue, the fourth leaf from the apex of matured branch was takenas indicator leaf (15 leaves per tree) as this is the most active part of the cocoaplant that absorbs nutrient from the soil (Denamany and Rosinah 1994). Thepieces of leaflet were washed carefully with distilled water to remove anycontamination from the leaf surface prior to extraction. Minimal washing wasdone to avoid rapid leaching of plant nutrients during washing. The plant sampleswere oven-dried at 65°C for about 7 days. Leaf samples were then ground andpassed through a 1.0 mm sieve and stored in a plastic container. These sampleswere then used for the determination of macro- and micro-nutrients in the leaf.Nutrient content, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn an B, in plant tissue was deter-mined using the dry ashing method (Gupta 2004) and the Kjeldahl method (Bremnerand Mulvaney 1982) was used to determine total N.

Determination of Pods Production, Actual Yield of Harvested Mature Pods andPotential Calculated YieldThe number of pods/tree was taken to determine the production of pods. Success-ful cherelles (pods) having a circumference of 20 – 25 cm were counted andmarked with blue paint. The number of pods was recorded every month, start-ing from 2 months after all treatments were started (T1 to T5 were appliedbeginning May 2004). Mature pods were harvested monthly, starting from Oc-tober 2004 until June 2005. Total number of harvested mature pods was re-corded to determine the actual yield of harvested mature pods. A minimum of 30pods/plot was sampled to determine potential calculated yield. Then, the cocoabeans were taken out from the pods and total number of beans was counted.The counted beans were then fermented for 7 days. One hundred beans weresampled randomly from the fully fermented beans. These 100 beans were weighedto determine the wet weight of fermented beans and were then oven-dried at 80ºC for 24 hours. They were weighed to determine the dry weight of fermentedbeans. The potential yield was estimated by the following formula given byOsman et al. (1994):

Dry bean yield (g / pod per year), N = (M / L x K)J

J = total number of pods sampledK = wet weight of fermented beans from JL = wet weight of 100 fermented beans sampled from KM = dry weight of 100 fermented cocoa beansTherefore, yield / plot per year = N x total number of pods/plot

= (M / L x K) x total number of pods/plotJ

Pod and Bean Quality DeterminationPod analysis was conducted by the method of Sapiyah (1994) where 5 podswere sampled out from each clone. This was done for each pod yield of eachcocoa clone that was harvested during peak harvest, which was in December




33

2004. Parameters determined were length and diameter of pods, weight of har-vested pods, average number of beans/pod, single dry bean weight, pod index(number of pods to produce 1 kg dry beans) and dry weight of shell (derivedfrom bean samples).

Statistical AnalysisThe analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done using PROC ANOVA of the Statis-tical Analysis System (SAS 2001) and the Tukey Test was used for mean valuecomparison if the treatments were significantly different.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Soil Properties at Experimental SiteThe chemical properties of the untreated soil are given in Table 1. Total organiccarbon content was higher in the subsoil (0.53 %) compared to the topsoil (0.44%) which was rather unusual. This may be due to soil erosion. It has beensuggested that a minimum requirement of about 2 % organic carbon in the top 15cm of soil is good for cocoa growth (Ahenkorah 1979). However, this soilcontained organic carbon below the recommended levels.

Available P was 33 mg/kg in the topsoil, while the value in the subsoil was 26mg/kg. Soil exchangeable calcium, magnesium and potassium were low. SoilpH was below 5. As such, much Al was expected to be present in the soilsolution. Extractable Mn was very high, with a value of 113 mg/kg in thetopsoil. It was even higher in the subsoil (> 149 mg/kg). These values of Mnare in the toxic range for plant growth (Graham et al. 1988).

TABLE 1The initial chemical characteristics of the Segamat soil

Variables Topsoil (0 – 20 cm) Subsoil (20 – 40cm)

pH (H2O) 4.80 ± 0.07 4.53 ± 0.04N % 0.14 ± 0.01 0.13 ± 0.01

Available P (mg/kg) 33.14 ± 2.44 26.18 ± 1.58Exch. Ca (cmolc/kg soil) 2.31 ± 0.18 1.63 ± 0.16Exch. Mg (cmolc/kg soil) 2.04 ± 0.14 1.40 ± 0.10Exch. K (cmolc/kg soil) 0.16 ± 0.01 0.12 ± 0.01Exch. Al (cmolc/kg soil) 0.15 ± 0.03 0.32 ± 0.03

Organic C % 0.44 ± 0.06 0.53 ± 0.10Cu (mg/kg) 4.59 ± 0.68 4.97 ± 0.89Fe (mg/kg) 55.25 ± 3.37 69.53 ± 3.46Mn (mg/kg) 113.23 ± 7.84 149.60 ±18.79Zn (mg/kg) 2.51 ± 0.08 2.98 ± 0.26B (mg/kg) 0.18 ± 0.01 0.20 ± 0.09

* Mean ± standard error




Plant Tissue Nutrient StatusData in Table 2 show the concentrations of macro- and micro-nutrients in thecocoa leaf. The concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calciumand magnesium for tissue samples of cocoa clone KKM 22 and PBC 130 weremore or less the same.

However, a slight difference can be seen for micronutrient concentrations.The concentrations of copper, iron and manganese in the tissue samples of clonePBC 130 were a bit higher compared to clone KKM 22. Zinc and boron concen-trations in the tissue samples of clone KKM 22 showed higher values comparedto clone PBC 130. The N concentration was low, but the concentration of Mnwas high, with the value at a toxic level.

Effects of Fertiliser Treatment on Pod ProductionThe development of the pods to maturity took 5 – 6 months from flowering tofull ripeness. Data in Fig. 1 show that pod harvesting continued at all times ofthe year with two peak harvest periods observed per year, which were in Octo-ber and December. Both clones, the KKM 22 and PBC 130, showed a similartrend of pod production throughout the year.

Data in Fig. 2 which refers to pod production on a yearly basis (July 2004 toJune 2005) show that all treatments gave no significant difference to pod pro-duction for clone PBC 130. However, for clone KKM 22, treatment T5 (or-ganic-based fertiliser + foliar + Ca-foliar + NPK) showed a slight increase in thenumber of pods per plot compared to other treatments.

Effects of Fertiliser Treatment on YieldDuring the 8 months of the harvesting period (October 2004 to June 2005), thedry weight of beans per plot over the year were not significantly different in alltreatments for both clones, KKM 22 and PBC 130 (Fig. 3). Since pod produc-tion was not affected by the treatments, it is reasonable to assume that the yield

TABLE 2The initial nutrient status of the cocoa leaves

Variables Clone KKM 22 Clone PBC 130

N % 1.78± 0.02 1.73± 0.03P % 0.12± 0.01 0.14± 0.01K % 0.34± 0.01 0.38± 0.01Ca % 0.71± 0.02 0.72± 0.03Mg % 0.52± 0.01 0.51± 0.01Cu (ppm) 11.49± 0.27 12.79± 0.80Fe (ppm) 68.42± 2.72 70.91± 0.86Mn (ppm) 1058.91± 60.23 1119.27± 29.02Zn (ppm) 55.98± 2.62 51.79± 1.68B (ppm) 16.9 ± 1.39 15.93± 0.86

* Mean ± standard error




35

Fig. 1: Pods production at different months (means followed by a common letter withincocoa clone are not significantly different at 5 % level by Tukey Test)

Fig. 3: Dry bean yield according to treatments (means followed by a common letter are notsignificantly different at 5 % level by Tukey Test)

Fig. 2: Pods production according to treatments (means followed by a common letter withincocoa clone are not significantly different at 5 % level by Tukey Test)




per plot gave the same results. It has been described in the formula that yieldestimation depends on pod production. Hence, it can be assumed that the yieldwas limited by yield components such as pod number per tree, bean number perpod and bean size which contributed to the weight of cocoa beans.

Effects of Fertiliser Treatment on Pod and Bean QualityThe results of pod and bean qualities suggest that there are no significant differ-ences between the treatments (Table 3). However, data in Table 4 show that forclone PBC 130, treatment T2 (organic-based fertiliser + NPK blue) gave rela-tively higher mean value than the others, with 690.96 g for pod weight. Singledry bean weight for both clones was between 1.2 g to 1.6 g, which was beyondthe expected average bean weight of 1 g to 1.2 g. This shows that bigger beansize has been produced and this gives a rough indication of a good yield. Bothclones gave a relatively lower pod index ranging from 16 to 22 which was within

TABLE 3Effects of treatments on the variables measured (clone KKM 22)

KKM 22

Variables T1 T2 T3 T4 T5

Pod length (cm) 20.89a 19.84a 20.91a 20.36a 19.64a

Pod diametre (cm) 9.81a 9.65a 9.73a 9.58a 9.73a

Weight of pod (g) 626.90a 607.90a 593.45a 607.80a 629.40a

Dry weight of shell (g) 10.15a 9.50a 7.05a 7.88a 11.33a

Number of beans/pod 36.35a 34.65a 37.85a 37.65a 36.80a

Single dry bean weight (g) 1.31a 1.31a 1.30a 1.20a 1.34a

Pod index 21.06a 22.13a 20.53a 22.40a 20.73a

(Means followed by a common letter within the row are not significantly different at 5 % levelby Tukey Test)

TABLE 4Effects of treatments on the variables measured (clone PBC 130)

PBC 130

Variables T1 T2 T3 T4 T5

Pod length (cm) 22.26a 23.51a 21.73a 22.95a 23.00a

Pod diametre (cm) 9.25b 9.62ab 9.79ab 9.46ab 9.18b

Weight of pod (g) 596.49ab 690.96a 643.30ab 622.52ab 567.70b

Dry weight of shell (g) 10.30a 8.75a 9.28a 11.55a 7.85a

Number of beans/pod 39.80a 38.55a 40.35a 36.75a 38.30a

Single dry bean weight (g) 1.57a 1.66a 1.64a 1.61a 1.51a

Pod index 16.56a 15.84a 15.72a 17.19a 17.47a

(Means followed by a common letter within the row are not significantly different at 5 % levelby Tukey Test)




37

the range of an acceptable pod index of 25 and below. This result indicates theamount of pods needed to produce 1 kg dry beans. Pod index of clone PBC 130in treatment T3 (foliar + NPK) gave the lowest value of 15.72 which was relatedto the highest number of beans per pod of 40.35 for the same treatment. Thegreatest number of beans per pod was found to give the lowest pod index.

Effects of Fertiliser Treatments on Soil FertilitySince all the treatments did not give significant results on either yield or quality ofcocoa, further soil and leaf analysis was carried out to identify the problem ofyield limitation by determining the concentration of macro- and micro-nutrients.From Table 5, it is observed that the soil pH is between 4.4 and 5.0, which islower than the recommended adequate range. The concentrations of phospho-rus, potassium, calcium, copper, iron, zinc and boron in soil were sufficient forcrop growth in all treatments. In contrast, the concentrations of nitrogen andmagnesium in soil were below the adequate range. Soil manganese concentra-tion was much higher than the adequate range. It is known that the optimum pHfor cocoa is 6.5 and the soils within the range of 5.5 – 7.0 should be selectedwhere major nutrients and trace elements will be available. With increasingacidity, the major nutrients, phosphorus in particular, become less availableand others like iron, manganese, copper and zinc become more available, possi-bly creating toxicity. With soil pH below 6, manganese reserves in soils maydissolve, leading to toxicity. Crop removal helps make soils more acidic bydepleting the reserves of calcium, magnesium and potassium. Although manga-nese can be concentrated in various soil horizons, higher manganese levels areoften reported for soils rich in iron and/or organic matter, which accumulate inthe topsoil as a result of its fixation by organic matter (Demirevska-Kepova etal. 2004).

Effects of Fertiliser Treatments on Plant Nutrient StatusData in Table 6 indicate that concentrations of nitrogen and potassium in plantwere relatively low. The concentrations of phosphorus, iron, boron and zinc inplant were sufficient. An excess of calcium, magnesium and copper concentra-tions in plant can be seen. Furthermore, manganese concentration was about 2-to 3-fold higher than the sufficient range, and this trend was also observed in thesoil manganese content. According to Tan (1996), a manganese concentrationof more than 500 mg/kg in plant tissue was excessive and may cause toxicity toplants.

In the natural environment, plant growth is often adversely affected by anumber of factors. One of the occasional factors limiting crop production onacid soil is manganese toxicity which comprises about 30 % of the world’s totalland area especially in mineral soils at low pH or in waterlogged soils (Mengel etal. 2001). Generally, the proportion of exchangeable manganese steeply increasesas soil pH decreases with the proportion of manganese oxides and manganesebound to manganese and iron oxides decreasing (Tanaka and Navasero 1966).




TAB

LE 5

Nut

rient

sta

tus

in s

oil

afte

r tre

atm

ents

Soil

requ

irem

ent

Ade

quat

e ra

nge

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

D0-

20D

20-4

0D

0-20

D20

-40

D0-

20D

20-4

0D

0-20

D20

-40

D0-

20D

20-4

0

*pH

w5.

5 -

7.0

4.7a

4.4a

5.0a

4.5a

4.7a

4.5a

4.9a

4.6a

5.0a

4.6a

*% N

0.2

- 0.

50.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a0.

1a

*P (

mg/

kg)

12 -

20

12a

13a

31a

15a

34a

32a

13a

10a

38a

36a

*K (

mg/

kg)

59 -

176

47a

78a

92a

53ab

73a

53ab

85a

48ab

92a

30b

*Ca

(mg/

kg)

34 -

68

33a

51a

58a

55a

45a

51a

61a

42a

65a

42a

*Mg

(mg/

kg)

30 -

60

6a10

a8a

9a8a

9a12

a10

a10

a12

a

**C

u (m

g/kg

)2

- 64a

4a4a

4a2a

4a5a

5a5a

4a

***F

e (m

g/kg

)30

- 5

041

a35

a38

a29

a25

a30

a41

a33

a39

a28

a

****

Mn

(mg/

kg)

20 -

40

148a

92a

142a

54a

50a

74a

100a

87a

37a

83a

**Zn

(m

g/kg

)1.

5 –

5.0

2a2a

4a2a

2a2a

3a3a

2a4a

*B (

mg/

kg)

1 - 3

1a1a

1a1a

1a1a

1a1a

1a1a

Mea

ns f

ollo

wed

by

a co

mm

on le

tter

with

in th

e ro

w a

ccor

ding

to s

oil d

epth

are

not

sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t at 5

% le

vel b

y Tu

key

Test

* B

ooke

r Tr

opic

al S

oil

Man

ual (

Land

on 1

984)

** M

icro

nutri

ent a

sses

smen

t at t

he c

ount

ry le

vel:

an in

tern

atio

nal s

tudy

(Si

llanp

ää 1

990)

***

Trac

e El

emen

ts in

Soi

ls a

nd P

lant

s (K

abat

a-Pe

ndia

s 20

01)

****

Man

gane

se in

Soi

ls a

nd P

lant

s (G

raha

m e

t al.

1988

)




39

TAB

LE 6

Nut

rient

sta

tus

in l

eaf

afte

r tre

atm

ents

Nut

rien

ts*S

uffi

cien

t ra

nge

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

KK

MPB

CK

KM

PBC

KK

MPB

CK

KM

PBC

KK

MPB

C22

130

2213

022

130

2213

022

130

% N

2.0

- 2.

51.

8a2.

0a1.

8a1.

9a1.

9a1.

8a1.

9a1.

9a1.

8a2.

1a

% P

0.1

- 0.

30.

1a0.

2a0.

1a0.

2a0.

1a0.

2a0.

2a0.

2a0.

1a0.

2a

% K

1.3

-2.2

0.4a

0.5a

0.4a

0.5a

0.5a

0.5a

0.4a

0.5a

0.4a

0.5a

% C

a0.

3 -

0.6

0.7a

0.6a

0.7a

0.6a

0.7a

0.7a

0.7a

0.6a

0.9a

0.9a

% M

g0.

2 -

0.5

0.6a

0.6a

0.6a

0.6a

0.6a

0.6a

0.7a

0.6a

0.7a

0.7a

Fe (

ppm

)60

- 2

0052

a65

a56

a61

a69

a62

a81

a65

a75

a71

a

Mn

(ppm

)50

- 3

0084

9a81

4a88

9a65

8a12

20a

959a

974a

860a

934a

859a

B (

ppm

)25

- 7

036

a60

a44

a55

a51

a61

a61

a61

a59

a64

a

Cu

(ppm

)8

- 12

20a

24a

18a

22a

22a

21a

24a

24a

19a

19a

Zn (

ppm

)20

- 1

0029

a40

ab47

a41

ab35

a33

b48

a44

ab48

a52

a

Mea

ns f

ollo

wed

by

a co

mm

on le

tter

with

in th

e ro

w a

ccor

ding

to c

ocoa

clo

ne a

re n

ot s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent a

t 5 %

leve

l by

Tuke

y Te

st

* Pl

ant a

naly

sis

hand

book

II

(Mill

s an

d Jo

nes

1991

)




It has been found in field experiments that manganese toxicity limits theyield potential. The presence of highly toxic manganese concentration both insoil and leaf samples indicate that the manganese concentration in soil and plantshow a fair degree of closeness with plant performance. The results from soilanalysis in field experiments show that the manganese concentration in the leafis generally associated with the high manganese found in the soils. Althoughmanganese toxicity has been rarely reported in the acidic soils of Malaysia, themanganese toxicity symptoms in rubber trees, planted in the field on soils withhigh total manganese has been observed by Bachik et al. (1984). Manganese isan essential plant nutrient but its presence in excess can readily cause toxicity toplants. Solubility and availability of soil manganese increase steeply with de-creasing pH, especially when this falls below 5.6. The Segamat Series used inthe trials developed over andesite. This soil is known to contain high amounts oftotal manganese with a value of 935 mg/kg in A horizon and 420 – 650 mg/kg inB horizon (Paramananthan 2000).

Visual symptoms of Mn toxicity were not observed during the experiment sothe factor suppressing the yield and quality of cocoa (manganese toxicity) wasonly realised after the experiment was completed. Most crops with high calciumdemand are also sensitive to relatively high concentrations of aluminium andmanganese ions present in acid soils. Therefore, these soils must have highersoil pH, raised by adding lime. Available manganese concentration of acid soil isreduced by liming. For the soil under study, addition of lime was recommendedto raise the soil pH and eliminate manganese toxicity. The raised pH reducesexcess soluble manganese (as possible toxins) by causing it to form insolublehydroxides (Khanna and Mishra 1978). It has been suggested in a previousstudy that the growth inhibition of plants grown in manganese-toxic conditionsmay be overcome by a higher calcium supply (Gupta 1972).

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSThere were no significant differences among treatments on cocoa yield and qual-ity. For clone PBC 130, T2 (organic-based fertiliser + NPK) gave greater podweight compared to other treatments. No significant influence was also seen onthe effects of treatments on successful cherelle development (or potential pods toform cocoa pods). Based on soil nutrient status, cocoa is not grown on goodsoil. Manganese toxicity has been found to be the possible reason for low cocoayield and quality limitations. The parent rock of Segamat Series contains mineralsuch as pyroxene which contributes to Mn. The nitial status of Segamat soil hasindicated that Mn concentration was 113 – 150 mg/kg, beyond the adequaterange of 20 – 40 mg/kg. Addition of Mn through fertiliser application made thesituation worse. To obtain better yields and quality of cocoa grown on Segamatsoil, it is recommended that enough lime be applied; the present liming programme(500 g/plant or 0.5 – 1 t/ha/year, broadcast once a year) appears to be insuffi-cient to raise the soil pH to the adequate range of 5.5 – 7.0.




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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance provided by the Min-istry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia (MOSTI) under the IRPAproject, number 01-02-04-0503-EA001, and the South East Asia Research Cen-tre for Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA) scholarship. A special thanks is due tothe Malaysian Cocoa Board Experimental Station, Jengka, Pahang in providingthe equipment and labour for the field experiment. Sincere thanks are alsoextended to Diversatech (M) Sdn. Bhd. for providing the fertilisers required forthe experiment.

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