Fertility Baseline Study of Major Cocoa Growing Soils of Nigeriaand Implication for Cocoa Production in Nigeria

"Field and laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the fertility status of the soils of three major cocoa-producing States in Nigeria. A Survey of the selected Local Government Areas was carried out and soil samples were collected at 0-30 and 31-60 cm depths. The Physico-chemical properties of the soils were assessed in relation to cocoa nutritional requirements using standard methods while descriptive statistics were used to interpret the results. The physical properties of the soils indicated that the mean sand, silt and clay content of the soils were 64.84%, 9.09% and 26.09% respectively. The average texture of the soils (sandy clay loam) was assessed to be adequate for cocoa production. However, the soil pH in water (pHw) which ranged from 4.25-6.90 was considered sub-optimal especially in Cross River State where the mean pHw was