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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. sp4 (2025): Recent Advances in Agriculture by Young Minds - III

Fertigation effects on productivity, soil nutrients and microbial population of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) plantation in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.10868
Submitted
29 July 2025
Published
11-11-2025

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to analyze the impact of fertigation with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers on soil nutrients and microbial communities in a cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) plantation in the Western Ghats of Pollachi. The experiment followed a randomized block design with seven Fertigation treatments. Treatments included soil application (control) and twice-weekly applications of conventional fertilizers at 75 %, 100 % and 125 % of the recommended doses, along with equivalent water-soluble fertilizers (WSF). The experiment was replicated three times. With 125 % recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) applied as a water-soluble fertilizer by fertigation, the soil provided the highest levels of N, P and K throughout the year. Applying water-soluble fertilizer and conventional fertilizers through the drip system at lower levels (75 %) resulted in much higher values of soil microbial activity. Plants receiving 100 % RDF as water-soluble fertilizer through drip fertigation recorded the highest pod counts (31.74 and 25.97 in the first year; 32.41 and 26.18 in the second year) and maximum dry bean yields (1931.69 and 1501.84 g per tree) during the respective seasons. Compared with ring basin irrigation, drip irrigation reduced N, P and K fertilizers requirements for cocoa by up to 25 % of the recommended dose.

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