In accordance with the suggested implementation of the proposed dipstick, we had to consider the conditions and characteristics of two key factors: the intended end-users and the protection of the environment.
When observing the needs of the intended users, we sought to interview Mr. Yturrios, the National Director of Alianza Cacao, to receive a first-hand and, thus, more concrete recollection of the needs of the farmers working at the cacao plantation in Peru. Through our meetings with Mr. Yturrios, we learned about the difficulties of implementing our project in the actual cacao plantations. Cacao plantations in Peru are scattered around the jungle, making it hard to reach all of them. This is why Mr. Yturrios recommended that we switched our focus to cacao liquor, instead of the cacao plantations.
This is what our team focused on during the first phase of our project, creating a cadmium detection sensor and a bioremediation system using modified rhizobacteria. As we developed our project and did more research, we found that it is impractical to implement our project in cacao liquor, as we would have to remove the bacteria once it is used, which is unfeasible. This led us to shift the focus of our project back to the original idea, of the cacao plantations. For the second phase of our project, we began working on the implementation of our project in soil, instead of cacao liquor. The original problem with the implementation of our project still exists, but we plan to start at a small scale and implement it from a more educational perspective. We hope to educate farmers in the jungle of Peru to be able to use our project to improve the quality of their cacao.