Evaluation of Growth and Nutrient Uptake in Cocoa/Coconut Intercrop in Southwest Nigeria

A field trial to evaluate the growth and nutrient uptake of cocoa intercropped with coconut was conducted in Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) Headquarters, Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan, Oyo State between 2019 and 2022. There were four treatments comprising of cocoa sole, cocoa/plantain, cocoa/coconut and cocoa/coconut/plantain intercrop. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block (RCB) replicated three times. Result obtained showed that cocoa/plantain was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than all other treatments in all parameters considered and closely followed by cocoa/coconut, then cocoa sole with cocoa/plantain/coconut giving the least performance. The same trend was observed in the nutrient uptake. It was also observed in the trial that the two crops: cocoa and coconut did not show any deleterious effect on their growth when intercropped together. This showed that the two crops are compatible when grown on the same piece of land. Therefore, cocoa/coconut intercrop could be recommended to cocoa farmers in south west Nigeria to increase their revenue generation when coconut starts bearing fruit instead of sole planting of cocoa.