Summary
The difficulty encountered in the establishment of cocoa seedlings in soils carrying old and unproductive cocoa trees has caused a decline in the national cocoa production.
To investigate the causes of this problem soil samples were collected from the major cocoa growing areas of S. Nigeria under old cocoa trees and analysed. High Cu, Fe and Mn contents of the surface soils, in conjunction with low soil pH, low % orgnic carbon, low N contents resulting in gross nutrient imbalance are the causes of the constraints in getting cocoa seedlings established in soils carrying old cocoa trees. A need to devise a farming system in which the soils can be amended and detoxicated is stressed.
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Ayanlaja, S.A. Rehabilitation of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) in Nigeria: major problems and possible solutions. Plant Soil 73, 403–409 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02184317
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02184317