THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SOIL CHEMISTRY CHARACTERISTICS WITH COCOA YIELD (A CASE FROM WEST SULAWESI, INDONESIA) Baja S, Harli, L Asrul, R Padjung, R. Neswati
Hasanuddin University
Abstract
Cocoa is the main plantation commodity which plays an important role in the Indonesian economy. In addition, cocoa is still the third largest source of non-oil and gas foreign exchange after rubber and palm oil. Indonesia is also still the third largest producer of cocoa beans after Ghana and Ivory Coast. Cocoa bean production has continued to decline since 2012. Cocoa production in Indonesia is only 659,776 tons. However, cocoa is the main plantation commodity in several regions in Indonesia, including West Sulawesi Province. The main problem for cocoa in Indonesia is the low productivity of the plant. The average productivity of cacao plants in West Sulawesi in 2019 was only 797 kg/ha/year. The productivity of the cocoa plant can reach 2,000-3,000 kg/ ha/year. One of the causes of the low productivity of the cocoa plant is the mismatch of soil chemical properties. The study uses quantitative methods with a deductive approach. This research took place from January to August 2020 in four districts in West Sulawesi, namely Polewali Mandar, Majene, Mamasa and Mamuju Regencies. Selection of research locations based on cocoa production data. The determination of the 30 point representative profiles was based on cocoa productivity data. The soil samples were analyzed at the Hasanuddin University Soil Fertility Laboratory. The results showed that there was a correlation between CEC and cocoa productivity. The amount of exchangeable bases (Ca, Ma and K) has a significant effect on cocoa plants in the high productivity category. There is a negative correlation of salinity for cocoa plants in the high 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 is no correlation between pH H20 with cocoa productivity at all representative profile points There was a positive correlation between pH H2O and other soil chemical characteristics, namely C-Organic, salin
Keywords: correlation, chemical of soil,productivity, cocoa
