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.
In 2016 a record 120 million boxes of 18 kilos were exported, generating revenues of $986 million, and productivity rose from 2,339 boxes per hectare in 2015 to 2,800 last year.
2016 was a good year for the banana sector in Costa Rica, which registered a significant rise compared to results seen in previous years.Compared to 2015 not only did overall productivity improve, but sales grew in value and volume.
Increasing the percentage of deliveries and optimizing the use of fodder will help raise productivity and improve conditions for competing with other export markets.
A pilot plan which is being promoted by the Livestock Corporation (CORFOGA) and which is already being implemented in 93 producing farms aims to improve productivity in cattle breeding and milk in the country.
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.
Entrepreneurs and specialists are convening an international conference of agricultural productivity on May 24 and 25 in Nicaragua.
The aims of the Congress is to share experiences that contribute to improving the growth of agricultural activity. Exhibitors from national universities will be taking part along with specialists from local and international private companies, said the Coordinator for Communication and Citizenship Advice, Rosario Murillo to Elnuevodiario.com.ni.
A study by the Central American Academy has concluded that there are market distortions that explain the low productivity of the sector compared with other producing countries.
Summary and conclusions of "Policies for productive development study. Experiences in the case of bananas and cattle "
Beef cattle shows low and stagnant productivity rates, according to the usual measurement standards in the industry.
Agro-export activity in the region will not be able to compete with efficient producers in Asia if they do not generate more added value and industrialize production processes.
More productivity is what producers and exporters in the Agricultural Sector in Central America need to achieve if they want the competitiveness of their products to be not only maintained, but increased.
Low productivity in Central American economies is the barrier which needs to be overcome if we want to grow in a sustainable way.
A study prepared by the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides) analyzes the evolution of productivity in different production factors in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Guatemala has reported a productivity of 101.68 tons of sugarcane per hectare, followed by Honduras and El Salvador, reaching levels of 93.47 and 89.94, respectively.
During the harvest from November 2012 - June 2013, Guatemala achieved a productivity of 10.57 tonnes of sugar per hectare (TSH), higher than that achieved by producers neighbors El Salvador and Honduras which achieved TSH of 10.55 and 10,03, respectively.
60% of coffee plantations were renewed between early 2009 and June 2014, reducing the average age of plantations from 12 to 7 years.
The negative effects of the climate phenomenon La Niña and the rust blight in Colombian coffee plantations between 2009 and 2012 led the industry to implement a policy of conversion of plantations, a process that was completed in June 2014 with the renovation of 575 thousand hectares of coffee nationwide.
In Nicaragua peanuts, sugar cane and tobacco have been held up as examples of how productivity can be increased in agriculture.
In 2006 one hectare of sugar cane in Nicaragua produced 66 tons, and five years later, in 2011, it produced 89 tons. Improvements in the use of technology and the search for the most suitable varieties of canes are part of the strategies that have enabled the industry to achieve outstanding levels of performance when compared with other countries in the region.
From April 28th to May 3rd the 59th Annual Meeting of the Central American Cooperative Program for the Improvement of Crops and Animals will be held in Managua.
Representatives from the agricultural sector from more than 20 countries will gather together from April 28th to May 3rd in Managua, where the 59th Annual Meeting of the Central American Cooperative Program for the Improvement of Crops and Animals will be held.
With the intention of benefiting producers and consumers, and achieving better crop yields, in Costa Rica the price of rice is fixed by law.
According to an article in Nacion.com "a study by the Institute for Research in Economics (ICSI), at the University of Costa Rica, which was requested by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC)." states that "the law fixing the price of rice will not benefit either the consumer or the producer, as intended by the measure, nor will it promote better returns."
Within the isthmus, Honduras has the lowest agricultural productivity, followed by, from the least to the most, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica.
Although the current global economic environment is favorable to the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, specializing in the production and export of agricultural products, "Latin American agriculture is being forced to increase productivity in an environmentally friendly way in order to overcome natural resource constraints , environmental pressures, the consequences of climate change and volatility in international prices of the agricultural products it exports. "
"What makes a country prosperous is not its resources but how productive it is. A country is not rich because of what it has but because of what it does with it " - Javier Simán.
An analysis by Claudio M. de Rosa in an article in Laprensagráfica.com, refers to the economical situation and the political circumstances in El Salvador, but most of the concepts and findings can be extrapolated to the entire Central American region.