As part of a long-term plan to increase grain sales to the North American country, a group of Nicaraguan producers will start with a first shipment of 40,000 hundredweight.
The group of producers leading the initiative explained that the sale will be made jointly with Honduran producers.In the case of Nicaragua, it is expected that about $2 million will be generated from the export of 40 thousand hundredweight.
It has been reported that the government has reactivated licensing for the export of one million hundredweight of red beans to El Salvador.
The Ministry of Economic Development (SDE) has authorized the re-granting of licenses for export because a harvest of 3 million hundredweight of red beans has been forecast, two million of which will go to the domestic market and the rest can be sold.
The opening of three processing plants for beans, plantains, cassava and avocado, in León, Rivas and Nueva Guinea is expected for 2018, with an estimated investment of $8 million.
Representatives from the Union of Agricultural Producers in Nicaragua (Upanic) detailed that the plant to be constructed in Leon will be dedicated to the processing of green and ripe plantains, and those from New Guinea to processing roots and tubers.
The Ministry of Agriculture has received a legislative endorsement to import the grain from outside of Central America in case of shortages during the second half of the year.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) asked MPs to issue Special and Transitional Provisions for Imports of Red Beans for Human Consumption, which would guarantee affordable prices for beans for the population, as well as supplying the domestic market, in case that the El Niño phenomenon affects the harvest of this basic grain.
The productivity goals set by the Solis administration for production of maize, rice, potato and beans in Costa Rica, will stay only on paper.
The the current government's proposion on assuming power in 2014 was to raise agricultural productivity, mainly from the cultivation of grains such as rice, maize and beans, but everything seems to indicate that it will be an almost impossible task.And although the government blames the climate, which may have had an effect, the reality of recent years shows that lack of agricultural productivity in Costa Rica is more linked to structural factors, such as production costs, than to other factors, such as the weather.
It has been estimated that the agricultural cycle 2017/18 will close with a production of 19 million hundredweight of maize, 2.2 million hundredweight of sorghum and 1.3 million hundredweight of beans.
The Salvadoran Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Agricultural Producers (Campo) foresees a reduction in most grains, mainly due to an expected reduction in the delivery of agricultural parcels on the part of the government to small and medium producers.
Taking into account the projected demand, it is expected that in the 2016/17 cycle the region will have sufficient but below average maize supplies and a slightly above average surplus of beans.
From the report "Regional Supply And Market Outlook Central America", by the Famine Early Warnings Systems Network:
This report summarizes the supply and market outlook for white maize grain, dry beans, and rice in the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua for the 2016/17 marketing year. Production and marketing in Mexico, an important source of dry beans and maize, are also discussed. Regional production for the 2016/17 marketing year (through July 2017) is expected to be average (Figure 1). Taking projected demand into account, the region is expected to have belowaverage, but sufficient maize supplies and a slightly above-average bean surplus. The region will maintain deficit in rice (Figure 2).
Maize production declined from 20.4 million hundredweight in the 2012/13 harvest to 15.6 million in the 2015/16 cycle, and yield per cultivated hectare has also declined.
In the case of beans, figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) show greater variability, depending on the bean and crop variety, as some have reported better results.However, bean productivity has deteriorated in recent harvests. Laprensagrafica.com reports that"... performance went from 15.1 hundredweight per hectare on average in the 2014/15 season, to 13.1 in the 2015/16 cycle."
Due to the effects of El Niño, a drop of 38% has been forecast in the 2016-17 harvest and 5,450 tonnes will need to be imported to meet domestic demand.
The 5,450 extra tons more that Costa Rica will import this year as recommended by the National Production Council (CNP) will be added tothe 9,432 tons that have already been approvedby a decree for the period July 2016 to June 30, 2017.
Except for cereals, in August prices rose for all commodities covered by the FAO food price index, led by dairy, oils and sugar.
From a statement issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization:
The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 165.6 points in August 2016, up 3 points (1.9 percent) from July and almost 7 percent above the corresponding period last year.
Behavior and price trends in production of white corn, black and red beans, wheat and rice in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean in June 2016.
From the Regional report on the Basic Grains Market in June 2016:
In Mesoamerica and the Caribbean in May 2016 white maize prices showed stable trends compared to April 2016, despite declining regional supply due to the completion of harvests and reduced inventories from 2015, but these were offset by world imports.In beans, stable prices were observed, not greatly affected by the losses in Apante and with a slight reduction in prices in Costa Rica and Mexico.In general, black bean prices have been favored by imports, and the use of substitute products as in the case in Haiti. Rice prices have remained stable in most countries, except Haiti where there was an increase due to the depreciation of Haitian local currency.
It has been estimated that the total production of beans, sorghum and maize at the end the 2016 harvest will exceed 12 million hundredweight.
Laprensa.hn reports that "...Corn growers (white, yellow and sorghum) forecast a harvest of between eight million and nine million hundredweight at the end of the year, which will mean an increase of 60% compared to the figures recorded in 2015, which barely reached four million hundredweight."
Productivity of beef, pork and onions improved between May 2015 and April 2016, while projected goals were not achieved for rice, beans and white corn.
The goals set at the beginning of the Solis management to facilitate conditions for raising agricultural productivity have been met by half, since of the products identified as "sensitive" because of strong competition faced externally, only beef, pork and onions managed to exceed the targets set for the first year.
The country needs to buy 10,000 metric tons of the grain in order to meet domestic demand from July this year to June 30, 2017.
The National Production Council has recommended that the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Trade prepare a decree declaring a bean shortage in the country and authorize its importation.
2016-2017 forecast: 1.6 million hectares in cropland, cattle slaughter at 795,000 head and milk production raging between 275 million and 300 million gallons.
The Plan for Production, Consumption and Trade in the 2016-2017 Cycle includes details of the Nicaraguan government's projections for the agricultural, livestock, poultry, aquaculture and forestry sectors for the current year and the next.