VOL. 5, NO. 3, MAY 2010 ISSN 1990-6145 ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science © 2006-2010 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com FERTILIZER USE AND COCOA PRODUCTION IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA S.O. Agbeniyi, M.O. Ogunlade and K.A. Oluyole Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, PMB 5244, Ibadan, Nigeria E-Mail: kayodeoluyole@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Fertilizer usage is a desirable step towards boosting cocoa production. This is because the nutrients that are being lost from the soil due to continuous usage of the soil are being replenished by fertilizer application. However, out of ignorance or otherwise, some farmers are not using this important farm input and this has resulted to the declining crop yield. This study therefore investigated the usage of fertilizer for cocoa production in the study area. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select three cocoa producing Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Cross River State. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 107 respondents from the three LGAs in the state. Information was collected from the respondents with the aid of structured questionnaire and the data generated from the information collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate logit model. Results showed that 98.13% of the respondents were not using fertilizer for cocoa production. Also farmer’s level of education (p<0.01), cocoa farm size (p<0.01), association membership of farmers (p<0.1) and cocoa output (p<0.01) are significant factors determining the probability of a farmer to use fertilizer for cocoa production. The study concluded that majority of cocoa farmers in the study area do not use fertilizer for cocoa production and it is therefore recommended that farmers should be enlightened on the need to use fertilizer (when required) to enhance their production. Keywords: cocoa farms, cocoa production, fertilizer, descriptive statistics. INTRODUCTION Due to constantly increasing pressure on available land as a result of high population densities, fallow periods have significantly reduced, and at present rarely exceed six years (Onyabinama, 2006). As a general rule, fallow shorter than ten years will not allow the soil to recover adequately and the quality of the soil decreases with more frequent exploitation (Ewes, 1978). As a result of the diminishing fertility status of the soil due to shorter fallow periods, smallholder farmers no longer produce a surplus sufficient food to feed the ever-increasing population. It should be observed that this practice does not affect food crops alone. In the same vein, the soil nutrients in cocoa plantation are being mined annually via cocoa harvest (Ogunlade et al., 2009). Wessel (1971) reported that there is a steady decline in almost all the nutrients with length of cultivation. Omotoso (1975) showed that a crop of 1000kg dry cocoa beans remove about 20KgN, 4kgP and 10kg K and where the method of harvesting (as in Nigeria) involves the removal of pod husks from the field, the amount of potassium removed increased more than five folds. Ogunlade and Aikokpodion (2006) reported that phosphorus is grossly inadequate for optimum cocoa yield in cocoa ecologies of Nigeria. Application of fertilizer is inevitable for the replacement of soil nutrients that are being mined through cocoa pod harvest annually. Adequate use of fertilizer has been found to increase agricultural output (Ogunlade et al., 2009). According to Olson (1970), fertilizer could increase food production by at least 50%. Opeyemi et al, (2005) reported that an effective use of fertilizer on cocoa would help not only to improve yield but also has the advantages of profitability, product quality and environmental protection. This therefore implies that fertilizer usage should be considered as a key factor in maximizing cocoa production; this study was therefore conducted to assess fertilizer usage for cocoa production in the study area. METHODOLOGY This study was carried out in Cross River State, Nigeria in November, 2008. Three high cocoa producing Local Government Areas (LGAs) were purposively selected in the study area for the study. The selected LGAs were Boki, Ikom and Etung. Simple random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and seven respondents with the aid of structured questionnaire. The data collected were analysed with the use of descriptive statistics as well as multivariate logit model. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and the status of fertilizer usage for cocoa production in the study area. Multivariate logit model was used to assess the determinants of the usage of fertilizer for cocoa production in the study area. The logistic (logit) probability function is represented as Pi = 1/1+e -Z i = f(Z i ) Log (P/1-P) = f(z i ) But Z i = βX i Therefore, log (P/1-P) = (βX i –U i ) Log (P/1-P) = 1, if fertilizer is used (adopted) while Log (P/1-P) = 0 if otherwise. Implicitly, the model is stated as Y = β 0 + β 1 AGE + β 2 EDU + β 3 HHZ + β 4 FMZ + β 5 ASS + β 6 OUT + U i 10