The Effect of Climate Characteristics for the Land Suitability and Cacao Productivity (Theobroma cacao L.) in West Sulawesi L Asrul (a*), Harli (b) Baja S. (c), R Padjung (c), AC Trisnaputri (c)
a)Graduate School of Hasanuddin University, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan KM. 10, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
*otheasrul1963[at]gmail.com
b)Al Asyariah Mandar University, West Sulawesi
c)Faculty of Agriculture of Hasanuddin University
Abstract
Climate characteristics and land suitability are the important factors that influence the growth of cocoa which is the non irrigated plant. Changes in rainfall patterns and extreme climate events cause a high level of pest and disease attacks on cocoa plants leading to a decrease in production by 10-50 percent in the last three years. West Sulawesi is one of the cocoa production centers in Indonesia that experienced a decline in cocoa production since 2012. Currently, the productivity far below the optimum level which is only around 797 kg/ha/year. This study aims to investigate the effect of specific climate characteristics and land suitability on cocoa productivity. This research was conducted in 4 districts in West Sulawesi, namely Polewali Mandar, Majene, Mamuju, and Mamasa, using quantitative methods with a deductive approach. Quantitative analysis is used in determining the correlation between land characteristics climate and cacao production in each subdistrict. The results showed that there was a significant effect between annual rainfall and annual average temperature with cocoa productivity in West Sulawesi. The highest productivity was obtained in the total annual rainfall of more than 1,600 mm/year with an annual air temperature of 25.22 0C, a maximum temperature of 28.630C. The humidity did not significantly affect the productivity of cocoa plants in West Sulawesi. The highest cocoa productivity was obtained at 83.03% humidity.
Keywords: cocoa, climate, land suitability, productivity
