Effect of Fertigation Scheduling on Growth Characters in Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.)

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of fertigation of N, P and K fertilizers on plant morphological characters of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) during 2012–13. The experiments were laid out in farmers field in eight years old cocoa plantation in randomized block design with seven treatment combinations replicated thrice. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilizers were applied through fertigation as well as soil application. The results revealed that the fertigation treatments were significantly superior over the control. Among the various treatments, application of NPK fertilizers at 125% (125:50:175 g NPK plant⁻¹ year⁻¹) Recommended Dose of Fertilizers (RDF) as water soluble fertilizers (WSF) through drip irrigation recorded the highest values in growth characters like trunk girth increment (1.31 cm), canopy spread increment (78.65 cm), leaf fresh weight (4.94 g) and leaf dry weight (2.07 g).