Biochar como enmienda edáfica para bajar los niveles de absorción de cadmio en cacao (theobroma cacao l), cultivar ccn-51

Abstract

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a crop that is planted mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean, due to the optimal climatic conditions that some tropical and subtropical areas present for it to develop vigorously. Cocoa exports along with other tropical fruits and flowers are the main products that maintain the country's economy and contribute to the daily diet of many other countries. With the regulations of the permitted levels of heavy metals present in food made by the European Union (EU) in 2014 and which came into effect from January 1, 2019; Ecuadorian cocoa exports were affected, especially in our province. From that approach, this research project was born whose purpose was to establish agronomic alternatives for crop management with edaphic amendments to balance the absorption of cadmium by cocoa plants. Ecuadorian cocoa is one of our flagship products best known worldwide for its aroma and flavor. Being the CCN-51 clonal cocoa a disease resistant hybrid with excellent production, low aroma and flavor if it is not given a benefit and proper postharvest handling, it has therefore generated a series of criticisms from certain industrial sectors. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of the edaphic amendment of biochar in combination with other edaphic amendments on the levels of Cadmium in the soil and cocoa fruits CCN-51, in a farm located in Río Negro, Santa Rosa, de la province of El Oro whose soil and cocoa fruits registered high levels of this element. The amount of cadmium was analyzed in a total of 28 composite samples, which were taken from 10 plants to which the treatments and the control were applied respectively. For the statistical analysis the SPSS program was used. The methodology that was used was a descriptive statistic analyzing five variables in each of the six treatments and the control (T0). To evaluate the levels of cadmium (Cd) present in the soil of the crop, a soil analysis was carried out, the samples were taken from the blocks of the six treatments and the control block, they were sent to the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Ecuador (INIAP) based in the province of Quevedo. The T3 in the cadmium analysis is the most representative because there is less cadmium absorption in relation to the other treatments. While for the different variables analyzed as: NAM, the best treatments were T2 (B100F5G50G) and T3 (B50F10G10G). For the PDM variable, the best treatment was T4 (F10G50G) followed by treatments T3 (B50F10G10G) and T6 (B50CAL50G50G) which also show very interesting results. In NMPLNS the best treatment was T1 (B100G50G) followed by T6 (B50CAL50G50G). In GAAP, the T3 (B50F10G10G) and T4 (F10G50G) were the most outstanding. The PCGAS variable indicates that T3 (B50F10G10G) and T4 (F10G50G) are the most significant treatments. All the treatments that contain Biocarbón are the ones with the best means and the highest statistical significance. The use of Biocarbón in combination with Fossil shel agro and chicken manure is recommended in doses of 50 g, 10 g and 10 g respectively to lower the levels of cadmium absorption and increase the yield of cocoa production.