Nutrient Requirement

Cocoa requires  100 g N (220 g urea), 40 g P₂O₅ (200 g rock phosphate) and 140 g K₂O (235 g muriate of potash) per year.   One third of the fertilizer is applied in May - June and two third during September-October. 

 Pruning

The cocoa tree is to be pruned regularly to maintain good canopy.  In young cocoa it is necessary to have formation pruning.  This is done mainly to adjust height of first jorquette.  The jorquette is allowed to form at a height of 1-2 m, which will help in undertaking cultural operations.  Pruning in mature cocoa includes two types viz., sanitary pruning and structural pruning.  In sanitary pruning, diseased or unnecessary branches are removed.  Structural pruning is done to shape the canopy to desired size and architecture.  Maximum leaf area should be maintained with pruning practices to avoid self-shading of leaves.  Cocoa grows in a series of storeys.  The chupon or vertical growth of plant terminates at the jorquette where 4-5 fan branches develop.  Further chupon develops just below jorquette and continues vertical growth till another jorquette is formed.  When grown as intercrop of palms, it is desirable to restrict the height of canopy to two storey level.  In studies on spacing and  pruning, it has been found that a spacing of 2.7 x 5.4 m and a canopy area of 15-20 m² was found to give highest bean yield.

  Irrigation

Cocoa is usually grown in areas where water availability is adequate.  But in some areas although plenty of water is received, long periods of dry spells ranging from 3-6 months are common.  Since cocoa plants are sensitive to drought, irrigation in such cases are essential. 

During summer, as it exists in Southern India, the crop is irrigated at weekly intervals. When it is grown as mixed crop with arecanut, the crop is to be irrigated once in a week during November-December, once in 6 days during January-March and once in 4-5 days during April-May with 175 litres of water.  Cocoa responds to drip irrigation well.  Maximum yields are obtained in cocoa irrigated through drip with 20 litres/day/tree

  Can we reduce the doze of inorganic?

Based on experiments conducted nationally and internationally, it has been well accepted that soils with 1% organic C status was ideal for coconut cultivation.  Further, long-term observations led to conclude that 70 to 80 ppm of mineralizable nitrogen in soil and 10 to 12 ppm Bray extractable 'P' can sustain sufficient levels in coconut.  Further work at CPCRI revealed that if soil available P is less than 10 ppm, full recommended dose of 320g P2O5/palm/year may be applied and for a soil test value of 10 to 20 ppm, 50 per cent of the same may be applied.  For soil test values of more than 20 ppm, P application can be skipped.

The various data on leaf analysis and nutrient responses available in the country suggest the following critical levels (14^th Frond ) for coconut:

Some leguminous plants are capable of contributing large quantities of green leaf  manure and nitrogen to the coconut palms by symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria, Rhizobium in their root nodules.  Peuraria phaseoloides, Mimosa invisa and Calapagonium mucunoides are the most suitable legumes. They contribute 15-25 kg of wet biomass and 150-200 g of nitrogen in the basin of a coconut palm during its 5 months growth in monsoon period as found in the experimental trial at our research farm. This consequently resulted in significant improvement in soil fertility and the yield of coconut palms

  Biofertilizers

The root regions of coconut palm are inhabited by a number of free living and associative symbiotic nitrogen–fixing bacteria having nitrogenase activity. The association of N₂ –fixing Azospirillum amazonense with the roots of coconut palm has recently been confirmed. The other associative nitrogen fixers include Azospirillum lipoferum, Azospirillum brasilense, Herbaspirillum frisingense, Bacillus spp., Burkholderia spp.,  Azoarcus spp., Arthrobacter spp. and many more which are yet  to be identified. Some of these are capable of fixing nitrogen even in the presence of nitrogen fertilizer. These organisms may have additive or synergistic effects on plant growth and health if they function in concert in the rhizosphere of coconut palms.

Microbial combinations may have very great potential for plant growth enhancement. While raising coconut seedlings in coir dust-soil mixture, Beijerinckia indica and associative diazotrophs   such as Azospirillum, Arthrobacter, Azoarcus, Herbaspirillum, Bacillus, Burkholderia and Pseudomonas are promising microbiological inoculants which enhances the growth and performance of seedlings. 

  Vermicomposting

The local species of Eudrilus    identified from coconut garden which is superior to other species in composting of coconut plantation wastes.This earthworm can be multiplied fast in a 1:1 mixture of cowdung and decayed organic wastes. Keep 10 kg of this mixture in bucket and release 50 to 100 worms. Mulch the mixture with grass and cover with a net. Maintain the moisture. In 1 to 2 months 150 to 300 g earthworm will be produced.

  Irrigation

The coconut plantations can be irrigated during summer months by hose irrigation, perfo/sprinkler or drip system of irrigation depending on farmer’s resources and convenience.  The quantity of water, 200 l/palm once in four days for hose irrigation, 20 mm water once in 4-5 days under perfo/sprinkler and 32 l/palm/day through four dripping points in drip systems is to be given from Dec. to May months in the West Coast region of  India.

  Moisture Conservation

Coconut is mainly grown under rainfed conditions in most coconut growing regions. For reducing surface evaporation and improving water retention under rainfed conditions and to reduce the erosion hazard the following conservation methods are suggested.

• Mulching with coconut husk, coir dust, green leaves, dried coconut leaves etc.

• Addition of organic manures or green manure

• Husk burial- effect lasts for 7 years

• Inter cultivation

• Bunding, terracing, etc.

  Coconut harvest

Twelve months old nuts are harvested  for seed as well as copra making. However, for tender nut purposes 7 to 8 months old nuts are harvested. In case of tall the nuts harvested for seed purpose  can be stored for 2 to 3 months period before sowing, whereas in case of dwarfs and hybrids, nuts should be sown with in a period of 10 –15 days of harvest. On an average, we can have eight harvests, though the coconut palm produces inflorescence every month.  For oil extraction, nuts are generally sun dried for copra making. In this case there is a chance of dirt accumulation followed by oil quality deterioration, nuts can be dried in various types of driers available (Kiln, electric and solar driers). Good quality copra can be obtained in short time by using these driers. Moisture content in copra for final use should be around 5-6%. The oil yield of WCT palms under rainfed condition will be around 1.7 to 2 tons/ha