Toward Sustainable Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao L) Production: The Role of Potassium Fertilizer in Cocoa Seedlings Drought Recovery and Survival

Autor: James S. Kaba, Alberta Y. Asare, Henrietta Andoh, Godswill K.S Kwashie, Akwasi A. Abunyewa
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Fruit Science, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 618-627 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 15538362
1553-8621
1553-8362
DOI: 10.1080/15538362.2022.2092932
Popis: Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L) is an understorey plant that is highly sensitive to drought, especially at the seedling stage. In Ghana, only 20% cocoa seedlings survive the dry spells within 24 months after transplanting. Potassium (K) is known to enhance the growth of plants root to increase water uptake under drought conditions. This study assessed the effect of different levels of K fertilizer in enhancing the drought recovery and survival of four cocoa genotypes grown in Ghana. A 3 × 3 factorial experiment in Randomized Complete Block Design was carried out at the FRNR farm, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 cropping seasons. The treatments consisted of 0 g, 4 g and 6 g plant−1 of muriate of potash (60% K2O) and three cocoa varieties: Amaz15-15XEqx78 (V1); CRG8914XPA150 (V2) and PA7/808XPound10 (V3). The result showed that cocoa varieties applied with 4 g or 6 gK plant−1 produced higher (p
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