A scientific evaluation of the agricultural experiments at Frederiksgave, the Royal Danish plantation on the Gold Coast, Ghana

Abstract

In the 1830s agricultural experiments were carried out at the Danish state plantation Frederiksgave at the Danish Gold Coast Establishments, in order to establish an economical sustainable plantation system which could produce export crops to among others the European market. Experiments were made with coffee, tobacco, sugar cane and some other crops and spices, but they failed. Based on climatic data from Frederiksgave for the year 1835 and from nearby climatic stations in the 20th century combined with soil data from the dominant soil types analysed in 1999, the natural reasons for the lack of success are discussed.