Authors:
Paterne Elvis TCHIMOU, Gohi Ferdinand ZRO Bi*, BESSIMORY TOURE, Koffi Hypolith KOUADIO, Dogniméton SORO & Sidiky BAKAYOKO, Ivory Coast
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Abstract:
The agricultural sector, in particular cocoa production, plays a key role in the socioeconomic
development of Côte d'Ivoire. With climate change, soil impoverishment and diseases such as
swollen-shoot, we are witnessing a drop in production, leading to the decline of many orchards.
Since the various attempts to find solutions to this problem have all ended in failure, and even
though these attempts have generally never overlooked the soil as a natural support for plants,
the overall aim of this study is to diagnose the prevalence of swollen-shoot disease in the soil. A
morpho-pedological study was carried out in the Bouaflé department in the Marahoué region, the
main endemic area in Côte d'Ivoire, to compare the characteristics of soils under healthy
orchards with those under infested orchards. The main differences observed were a higher load
of ferruginous concretions and poor internal drainage of soils in diseased plots. While waiting to
explore the chemical properties of soils, these results lead to the conclusion that the appearance
of the disease in cocoa trees also depends on the quality of the cultivation soil. |
