What is it about?
Liming of soils in the field was undertaken to investigate the potential of this soil remediation method to mitigate cadmium absorption by cacao plants.
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Why is it important?
In 2014, the European Union announced, by Regulation (EU) No 488/2014, plans to implement regulations (EC Regulation No 1881/2006) governing the Maximum Permissible Levels (MPLs) (Maximum Residual Levels (MRL) or Maximum Levels (MLs)) of cadmium (Cd) allowed in chocolate and cocoa products. These regulations took effect from January 1, 2019. it is crucial that all cocoa producing countries comply with them. Non-compliance with the Regulations will result in rejection of contaminated beans. Failure to adopt appropriate monitoring, evaluation, mitigation and remediation/amelioration strategies will have significant economic and social impacts in cocoa producing countries henceforth.
Perspectives
This research was outstanding and timely, not only for its importance to the local, regional and international cocoa industries, but also for the exceptional level of collaboration between the stakeholders involved; the Ministry of Agriculture, The University of the West Indies (Cocoa Research Centre, Department of Chemistry and Department of Food Production), The Cocoa and Coffee Industry Board of Trinidad and Tobago and the local cocoa industry. The research findings have opened many new areas of cocoa research of benefit to the entire cocoa industry, especially in the area of the heavy metal, Cadmium in cocoa.
Dr. Frances Louise Bekele
The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, TRINIDAD
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Effect of Liming on the Availability of Cadmium in Soils and Its Uptake in Cacao (Theobroma c acao L.) In Trinidad & Tobago, Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, September 2018, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2018.1510955.
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