THE USE OF BIOSTIMULANT IN COCOA’S CULTURE: AN ALTERNATIVE PRACTICAL TO REVERSE PESTICIDES-INDUCED COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL IMPAIRMENTS IN POPULATIONS FROM PRODUCTION AREAS?

Abstract

Côte d’Ivoire is the worldwide largest cocoa producer. However, cocoa’s tree diseases and pests cause more than 60% production losses. Because of the adverse environmental and human health effects of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, in this study we tested the innovative natural biostimulant Banzaï to minimize those losses. Two kinds of parcels were selected in cocoa’s locality of Tafissou in Côte d’Ivoirefor this pilot study: one with an application of the biostimulant Banzaï on a cocoa plant soil with fertilizer using during thethree last years (DAE) and another without any fertilizer during the last three years(DSE). Our results showed thattheplotwith biostimulantBanzaï produced more significantly cherriesand pods than the control plots without biostimulant. Indeed, the progression rate of cherries is between 32 to 104% in the plotsDSE while it is between 47 to 154% in theplotsDAE. Also, the pods productionwasbetween 8 and 61% in plots DSE, but it was in high progression between 74 and 226% in plots with DAE. This study suggests that the use of the biostimulant Banzaï has positiveactions on the yield of cocoa productivity. In the second part of our project, we will consider an epidemiological approach through questionnaire and neuropsychological tests to assesscognitive-behavioral status impairmentas side effects in population living in cocoa areas with application of biostimulant Banzaï compared to those of cocoa areas with traditional use of pesticides and other agro-chemicals.