The Province of Southeast Sulawesi covers the southeast region of Sulawesi Island (afterwards referred as inland) plus several smaller islands and many isles (afterwards referred as offland) adjacent to the region. The land in this province is dominated by mineral soils, but through different soil formations. This causes different physical and chemical soil properties under cocoa plantations in inland and offland regions. The study was conducted to compare soil suitability classes under cocoa

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... antations in inland and offland region of the province. The inland region was represented by the Regency of Kolaka Timur, while the offland region was represented by the Regency of Buton Utara. The soil survey was conducted using land unit analytical approach. A hundred land units were used per each region. The soil data was obtained from soil observations and laboratory analysis. The soil suitability evaluation was conducted using the limiting factor lowest values by matching the actual soil characteristics to cocoa growth requirements. The resulting soil suitability classes in inland and offland region were then compared. The results showed that lands in offland region of Southeast Sulawesi Province were relatively more potential as compared to those in inland region even though the chemical properties in inland soils were relatively better. It is suggested that cultivation of cocoa crops should be done in moderately and marginally suitable land units only, while those under not suitable class should be kept alone in order for the forest covers to keep intact.