Diagnosis of soil fertility in two plots for cultivation of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and coffee (Coffea arabica) in the municipality of San Buenaventura

Abstract

In the north of the department of La Paz, the agricultural frontier was increasing vertiginously due to the entry of sugarcane cultivation, livestock activities, settlements in areas for illegal extraction of wood, among others, which are detrimental to biodiversity; The work consisted of diagnosing soil fertility for the implementation of cocoa and coffee crops, in two communities (San Silvestre and Esmeralda), based on the data obtained by Miranda et al. (2020) on physical-chemical analysis of soils. The procedure was: a) Systematization of secondary and primary information, b) Analysis of inputs and outputs of nutrients from the soil and c) dosage of nutrients based on their balance for the cultivation of cocoa and coffee. According to the analysis carried out, in the Esmeralda community, to have adequate cocoa yields, 738.5 kg N ha^-1 and 76.07 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 must be added, and 212.5 kg N ha^-1 in coffee, the same due to their low percentage of saturation. of acidity do not require liming. In the San Silvestre community, the addition of 788.09 kg N ha^-1, 229.03 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 and 403.86 kg K₂O is required for the cultivation of cocoa and for the cultivation of coffee 262.09 kg N ha^-1 21.20 kg P₂O₅. On the other hand, the soils present a high percentage of saturation of recommended acidity with 46.73 %, higher than the percentage of saturation of cocoa (20 %) and coffee (25 %) crops, suggesting the addition of 4.327 kg of agricultural lime for the cultivation of cocoa per plant and 0.439 kg for the cultivation of coffee, suggesting that they be applied in two stages.