Sustainable smallholder cocoa farming through 4R nutrient management
Cocoa is a key crop for many Indonesian smallholder farmers, who own over 90 percent of the country’s cocoa production land. However, cocoa bean yields have fallen from around 750 kg/ha in the 1980s to below 400 kg/ha over the last two decades, with ageing trees, pests, diseases, poor soil health and nutrient depletion. Despite producing 65 percent of Indonesia’s output, smallholders in Sulawesi lack access to relevant cocoa farming knowledge and farm inputs, such as fertilizers and finance. Many of these farmers are in a downward spiral of poverty, with some ready to give up growing cocoa entirely, despite increasing global demand.
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Author: Yvonne Harz-Pitre
Organization: International Fertilizer Association
Year: 2018
Country/ies: Indonesia
Geographical coverage: Asia and the Pacific
Type: Case study
Full text available at: http://www.fao.org/3/BU711EN/bu711en.pdf
Content language: English