A study of direct seeding in cocoa, 1 : The growth of immature plants
A study on the effect of direct seedding and planting hole size on the growth and production of bulk cocoa hybrids is being conducted in Kaliwining Experimental Garden, Jember. The properties of the Al horizon soil (0-60/69 cm) are dark brown (10YR 3/4, moist), silt loam, weakly developed fine crumb, friable (moist), frequent fine to medium roots, 23.91 me percent CEC, 93 percent base saturation, 4.5 me percent Mg, 16.2 me percent Ca, 1.25 me percent K, 1.05 percent C, 0.09 percent N, and pH 5.9. The solum is > 100 cm. Elevation 45 m above sea level, annual rainfall is 1855 mm with 3-4 dry months, and the slope is 0-2 percent. The study consisted of two treatments. The first one was done with three planting hole size as treatments, i.e. 60 x 60 x 60 cm, 30 x 30 x 30 cm, and 0 x 0 x 0 cm, whereas the second one studied four treatments, i.e. no planting hole preparation, 60 x 60 x 60 cm, 100 x 100 x 100 cm, and the seeds were directly grown on the field without hole preparation. The result showed that on those soil and climatic properties the effect of direct seeding and planting hole size on the young cocoa growth was not significant. But, there was a tendency that the highest plant height, leaf number, and girth were obtained from the 100 x 100 x 100 cm planting hole size. The standard size (60 x 60 x 60 cm) showed similar effect to the other treatments. Good chemical and physical soil fertility could be achieved e.g. by precropping of legumes crops with intensive cultivation. Direct seeding for large scale especially on marginal soil should be seriously considered regarding that it needs very intensive maintenance. This result cannot be generalized to all locations with various soil fertility and climatic conditions. Feasibility study is required to give proper planting hole recommendation. This experiment is continued to evaluate precosity and yield.
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| Format: | biblioteca |
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| Subjects: | THEOBROMA CACAO, SIEMBRA DIRECTA, FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO, ETAPAS DE DESARROLLO DE LA PLANTA, |
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