Effect of mineral fertilizers on agronomic characters of cacao trees species in the Daloa region (West Center, Cote d'Ivoire)
Cote d'Ivoire became the first world producer of cocoa beans in 1970 by reducing forest cover and by losing biodiversity. The West central region of the country was a former production site of cocoa, and contributed strongly to the annual supply of cocoa beans, but today, the plantations are old and the soils are poor, especially in the region of Daloa. To increase the yield of production, farmers use artificial fertilizers and the effect on cocoa trees is not really known. Our study aims to determine the agronomic characters improved by the application of the artificial fertilizer. In the plantations of the villages Dibobly, tien oula and Zitta, non experimental and experimental plots were installed and measures on cacao trees on a surface of 2 400m2 were realized. The results showed that the cover of flowers by feet and the number of fruits had significantly increased with fertilizer. However, the fertilizer had no really effect on the size of fruits, the mass of fruits and the number of cocoa beans. Also, the varieties of cocoa trees like Forastero and Criollo, had a different productivity for the same application of fertilizer. The productivity of the cocoa trees depends of the quality of the fertilizer but also of the cultivated variety. The results could allow improving the quality of the fertilizer and use it consequently.