The Effect of Liming on the Availability of Cadmium in Soils and Its Uptake in Cacao (Theobroma c acao L.) In Trinidad & Tobago

ABSTRACTCadmium (Cd) is absorbed and bio-accumulated by cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) trees, resulting in unacceptably elevated levels in cocoa beans, necessitating measures to reduce its uptake from soils. A field experiment, lasting 18 months, was carried out to assess the effectiveness of liming on pH, bioavailability of Cd in soils and its uptake in cacao tissues. The treatments were: (a) control (untreated) and (b) lime-treated trees. Results demonstrated a significant (P   0.05) compared to the significant (P < 0.05) increase showed by control trees. The Cd levels in the leaves of both treatments decreased, however, the rate of decline in leaf Cd concentrations for lime-treated trees (−0.1378) was 3x faster than control (−0.0497) trees demonstrating the effectiveness of liming.