Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
What?
This document describes the ratio of all nutrients that must be present in a “cocoa fertilizer package for complete
nutrient replenishment and soil pH management.
“Even the most effective formulations will typically not exceed 60% of nutrient content with 40% filler, but
this filler is important for the production and use of the fertilizer”
Determining Choice of Fertilizer
and Volume to Use
• Many farmers have started or are considering to renovate their farms with highly productive plant material
- but unfortunately nearly all farmers still use Urea and NPK fertilizers which over time acidifies the soil
and drives imbalance of nutrients, which impacts the production capacity of the tree severely.
• To grow cocoa successfully, farmers must not only use highly productive plant material and professional
agricultural practices, but they must also manage their soils professionally.
• To ensure availability of nutrients in the soil for cocoa trees to thrive and support high yield, special ‘cocoa
fertilizer’ must be used to replenish or top up all macro, secondary and micro nutrients that are removed
from the soil with every harvest. Such fertilizer should contain the minerals N, P, K, Ca, S, Mg, Zn, and B in
the right ratios (balance), whilst N should not be applied as Ammonia but rather as Nitrate to avoid ongoing
acidification of the soil.
• For some crops, a certain volume of fertilizer is subsidized. There is a moderate volume of
subsidized fertilizer for cocoa which is all NPK fertilizer in ratios such as 15-15-15 or 20-10-10
which acidifies the soil and does not contain secondary or micro nutrients but as it is cheap,
this fertilizer is popular with farmers.
• PT. Pupuk Indonesia is a state-owned fertilizer that delivers the subsidized NPK fertilizer but
there are a number of small to medium size private fertilizer companies as well whom are
willing to explore opportunities to sell specific ‘cocoa fertilizer’.
CSP Actions
• Together with ICCRI and other members, the CSP has developed a table with nutrient ratios for each
nutrient in a nutrient replenishment fertilizer for cocoa, rather than publish recommendations for
fertilizer formulations.
• Clearly it is not the role of CSP to approve, endorse or recommend fertilizers but more importantly such
‘fixed formulations’ would hamper the fertilizer industry to service farmers with new, better and more
affordable fertilizers which would still be appropriate but would differ slightly from the CSP
recommendation.
Over time, new insights will develop which will allow CSP and its’ members to fine-tune or change some of
the nutrient ratios as mentioned.
Nutrients Replenishment Fertilizer Ration
for Cocoa
Thresholds
Parameter Unit
Low High
Macronutrients
Source of data:
No3- (in Nitrate form) % in blend 12 18
The ratios are based ‘nutrient
P2O5 % in blend 12 20 replenishment’ as measured in
K2O % in blend 15 25 nutrients removed in cocoa beans
Secondary Nutrients and cocoa pod husks from a number
of studies in a number of countries.
MgO % in blend 3 8
These nutrient replenishment data
CaO % in blend 5 high are then adjusted for typical soil
S % in blend 3 10 activities (i.e. seepage or leakage
Micronutrients of different nutrients) and typical
chemical interactions in the soil.
B % in blend 0.6 1
The data used for this table are
Zn % in blend 0.4 0.9 from Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana,
Mn % in blend Cameroon, Nigeria and Ecuador
Mo % in blend which ensures that compensation
for a variety of soil and farm
Fe % in blend
conditions are included.
Cu % in blend
Soil Fertility, Fertilizer,
Nutrient Replenishment and Nutrient Ratio
Soil conditions and nutrient availability in soils vary depending on the soil, the climate, the crop, the years
of cultivation on the soil and the soil management practices used.
• Some soils are not suitable for cocoa production and other crops should be grown on such soils.
• Some soils are suitable for cocoa but have low levels of organic matter and microbiological activity, or the
soils have a low pH, or the soils are depleted of nutrients or have an imbalance of nutrients through long
term cultivation of a crop with no or poor soil management practices, or a combination of these issues.
Ideally, such soils should be ‘restored’ by applying more of the inputs that are needed most to reach a soil
with good pH, good microbiological activity as well as good nutrient availability in the right balance.
• Some soils are directly suitable for cocoa cultivation but of course, the soil microbial activity needs to be
‘maintained’ and nutrients need to be ‘replenished’ to ensure future soil fertility.
• And to reach the highest level of productivity of cocoa trees the soil and nutrients should be ‘optimized’
for cocoa.
Note that whilst Soil fertility restoration, soil fertility maintenance, and soil fertility optimization are three
approaches to ensure soil fertility to support high productivity of cocoa trees.
"it is important to stress that nutrient replenishment is not in itself the whole solution to soil fertility. The
soil structure (argyle, sandy, rocky) and the position of the farm (slope, regular flooding) are important
factors for the success of cocoa cultivation, whilst organic matter and a functional microbiological
ecosystem are equally important for the root system of the tree to absorb the nutrients from the soil.
Therefore, as it is difficult to change soil structure or position of the farm, CSP urges farmers to evaluate
their soil structure and farm position for suitability of cocoa cultivation, whilst it is recommended that
farmers support organic matter and soil health by leaving all organic matter in the farm, preferably in
‘shallow trenches’ between the trees. Where needed, additional organic matter can be added through raw
organic matter, compost or organic fertilizer”
Why the Initial Focus
on Cocoa Nutrient Replenishment Fertilizer?
Important:
• To note that trees do not absorb all nutrients that are applied to the soil or that are available in the soil.
Depending on soil structure there can be leakage or seepage of nutrients to deeper soils where the roots
of (cocoa) trees can’t reach or there can be run-off through the rain of newly applied fertilizer.
• Additionally there chemical reactions in the soil that tie up some nutrients and make them less available
to the root system of the trees, and there are differences in nutrient solubility as well as ease of nutrient
absorption by the root system. All this means that the nutrients in fertilizer must be adapted to these
factors, and therefore the right ratio of nutrients in fertilizer may differ from the ratio of nutrients found
in cocoa beans and pod husks.
• The nutrient ratios in the table are the ratios of what we must apply, not what the tree needs. Therefore
the ratio of P may seem high vs the contents of P in cocoa beans and pod husk, but P is not very soluble
and isn’t absorbed easily by root systems and therefore the volume of P in fertilizer must be increased to
ensure enough of it can be absorbed by the tree.