In Nicaragua, entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector have reiterated the benefits that this technology brings in terms of competitiveness, and insist on clear rules for their use.
Fumigating at lower costs and improving surveillance of planted areas are some of the benefits that drones provide for agricultural activities. An example of this is the data provided by the Union of Agricultural Producers of Nicaragua (Upanic), whose representatives say that with a drone, the cost of spraying a manzana (7,042.25 m2 = 1.74 acres) of crops is 20 cents, well below the $3 it costs using traditional methods.
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.
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."
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.
A proposal has been made to create "intermediate cities" in nine areas of the country, in order to bring remote rural areas closer to urban areas where productive development has historically been focused.
From a statement issued by Fundesa:
The proposal to be presented this year in ENADE 2016 has 3 components and is called Strategy 911: Promoting 9 territories identified as Intermediate Cities, promoting the development of 11 production clusters with an impact on job creation and addressing the 11 bottlenecks preventing growth of these sectors.All of this comes under the initiative "Let's Improve Guate" which seeks to reduce poverty through the generation of productive employment for the more than 150,000 young people who join the workforce every year.
In the 2015/2016 harvest, 48% of farmers obtained less than five hundredweight of coffee per acre cultivated, and another 28% harvested only five to 10 hundredweight per acre.
A report states that three out of four farmers recorded low productivity during the 2015/2016 cycle, resulting in an estimated 13% fall in the production cycle.
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.
The implementation of adequate irrigation infrastructure would provide the conditions needed to produce year-round, raising the productivity of Nicaraguan agriculture.
Lack of infrastructure is preventing taking advantage of the potential of rainwater in the agricultural sector, which relying solely on rain, is able to grow only once year, in the winter period.Data provided by Santiago Jaramillo, agronomist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) indicates that the yield (kg / ha) of crops such as corn and beans could rise from 2125 to 9100in the first case and 675-1500 in the second case.
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. For bananas, productivity rates are among the highest in the world. Identifying explanatory elements of these results was the objective of this study, using the analytical framework of the Policies for the Productive Development (PDP).
More access to loans, promoting the designation of origin and improving brand positioning of Guatemalan Coffees is part of the strategy proposed by the union.
Among the measures the National Coffee Association intends to implement is the exchange of rust resistant varieties with companies such as Starbucks, with whom an agreement was signed to improve the quality of the grain.
High production costs, coupled with the progressive reduction in the tariff paid on yellow corn from the United States, are keeping sorghum producers in the country in a state of check.
With the gradual elimination of import yellow corn from the United States, established in DR-CAFTA, a 0% tariff will be reached in 2020, a rate which currently stands at 10.1%. At the moment the cost of producing a hundredweight of sorghum is $9.28, while the price of yellow corn including tax is $11.55 per hundredweight.
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.
Recognized Brazilian company of backhoe loaders, telescopic, articulated and other types of cranes looking for companies interested in representing the brand and distributing their machinery in Central America and Mexico. The company manufactures and sells telescopic,...
Operating Company dedicated to the manufacture of gluten-free and sugar-free products, OHNE brand. The OHNE brand has 8 product lines: square bread, sweet...
Beverage Industry Digital Magazine established in 1942, the oldest Spanish trade journal and the only beverage trade magazine serving the Latin American beverage market. It serves soft drink bottlers, brewers, bottled water...
español
2428
