Land suitability evaluation for cocoa using a parametric approach in West Sulawesi

Abstract

Cocoa is the main plantation crop in Indonesia after rubber and oil palm. Indonesia’s cocoa production is the sixth-largest after Ghana and Ivory Coast. Cocoa cultivation spreads to almost all islands in Indonesia. However, the largest is on the island of Sulawesi. West Sulawesi is one of the largest cocoa producers in Indonesia. The decline in cocoa production has continued since 2012. One of the causes of the decline in cocoa production is a decrease in acreage and low productivity of the cocoa plant. The current average cocoa productivity is only 797 kg/ha/year. This productivity is very low compared to the optimum productivity, reaching 2,000-3,000 kg/ha/year. One of the causes of low productivity is uneven land suitability. Cocoa is grown on land with a poor land index. This study aims to study the land index in West Sulawesi to develop land suitability for cocoa plants. His research took place in January-August 2020. The collection of representative points consisted of 30 points spread over four districts in West Sulawesi, namely Polewali Mandar, Majene, Mamuju and Mamasa Regencies. The results showed that there was a strong correlation between land index values and cocoa productivity. Each increase in the land index will increase the productivity of specific cocoa plants for the West Sulawesi Region. The highest Land Suitability Index value (53.56) was obtained on land with cocoa productivity of 2,000 kg/ha/year. The lowest Land Suitability Indexvalue is obtained on land with a 700 kg/ha/year productivity.