Cuba, Belgium to Develop Project for Cocoa Production
Guantanamo, Cuba, Apr 3.- Cuba and Belgium are implementing a project to strengthen agro-ecological cocoa production in the west of the country, official sources reported.
The research, carried out by the universities of Guantanamo and the Catholic University of Louvain, is financed by the Belgian Academy of Research and Higher Education (ARES), Igor Bidot, the Cuban coordinator, told Prensa Latina.
The project is applied in Baracoa, the country’s cocoa zone, located in the northeastern region of Cuba, and aims to identify, characterize and classify cocoa mycorrhizae, which have a key role in the tree’s behavior, the expert said.
As part of the project, the associated scientists are staying at the Leuven university and Gembloux, both in Europe, to strengthen working relations and carry out joint actions, Bidot told this news agency.
The symbiotic association plant -micorrhiza, allows greater absorption of nutrients, encourages growth and strengthens the conditions to tolerate pathogens and water stress, so its application will improve cocoa production, whose derivatives are an important line exportable. (Prensa Latina)