Cocoa Intensification in Indonesia - IPNI Cocoa Care Program

This project currently works with almost 100 small holder cacao farmers in the Soppeng / Bone area of South Sulawesi where generally poorly trained cacao farmers are struggling to maintain sustainable productivity levels under increasing pressure from pests and diseases with inadequate application of necessary farm inputs. The cacao farmers will be trained both “in class” and “in field” how to implement good agricultural practices on their farms for maximum productivity. Soil and leaf sampling will be undertaken within the farms to guide the implementation of nutritional and other soil management practices. The concept of 4R Nutrient Stewardship will be used to implement the nutrition program. Farms are split into half. One half of the farm will be treated with general good agricultural management practices, but will not receive fertilizer applications. The other half will receive good agricultural management practices, including fertilizer applications. Test plots with 50 to 100 trees each will be established within each treatment to monitor the impact of these interventions. Furthermore, nutrient omission trials are being used to determine nutrient uptake rates and the agronomic use efficiency of nutrients. The project will be jointly managed by IPNI Southeast Asia Program, Malaysia and PT Community Solutions International, Cocoa Care program.