Saint Lucia Star
By Vincent Lewis (in Costa Rica)

A group of St Lucian farmers and agriculture officials are this week getting a first-hand look at good agricultural practices in Costa Rica.

The tour, which includes farmers in the cocoa, vegetable and cut flowers sector, opened with a visit to the National Horticultural Corporation of Costa Rica in the mountainous region of Cartago.

The Corporation grows lettuce and tomatoes at 1,314 metres above sea level in six greenhouses measuring a total of 10,400 square metres. The farm is equipped with its own reservoir which has a holding capacity of 1.2 million gallons of stored rain water, enough to last three months in a drought. The six greenhouses utilize 2000 litres of water per day. Each greenhouse measures 1728 square metres.

The six greenhouses yield 230,000 to 250,000 kilograms per hectre of lettuce and tomatoes. However, it was pointed out that it’s more profitable to grow lettuce than tomatoes. The production cycle for lettuce is three months and seven to 10 months for tomatoes. Close attention is paid to the unit cost of production.

The Corporation grows lettuce in potted bags, inside the greenhouses, under controlled temperatures. The Costa Ricans also observe strict phytosanitary practices. At the entrance to each greenhouse is a neutralizing solution in which persons are required to dip the soles of their shoes before entering, to minimize the transfer of unwanted organisms into the controlled environment.

A weather station on-site transmits information to the computer system, allowing personnel in the control room to anticipate and adjust temperatures in the greenhouses as required. There is also a special soil formulation, developed by the Corporation’s agronomist, to ensure the best possible yield. Fans are used in the greenhouses to control temperature as well as for ventilation for lettuce cultivation. For tomato cultivation, the fans are used for ventilation and pollination. All greenhouses utilize the drip irrigation and fertilization system, also known as fertigation.

From its six greenhouse units in Cartago, the National Horticultural Corporation of Costa Rica earns $12 million Colons or US$40,000 per week in revenue. The lettuce and tomatoes are strictly for the domestic market.

The Corporation also exports an average of three to four containers (40 ft) of carrots per week (150 tonnes per month) to Puerto Rico and Trinidad. The carrots are bought fresh from farmers in various regions of Costa Rica and brought to the Corporation’s depot in Cartago where they are washed, sorted, crated and put through a chiller in preparation for shipping. The entire process was witnessed by the St Lucia delegation. The National Horticultural Corporation of Costa Rica also buys Broccoli and Cauliflower from local farmers for export.

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) is integrally involved in the Study Tour.

IICA Representative for the Eastern Caribbean, Una May Gordon, says she hopes the visit to the National Horticultural Corporation of Costa Rica has given the St Lucian farmers and agriculture officials a deeper understanding of the level of organization, technical expertise, planning and proper utilization of technology which must be invested if the agricultural sector is to yield desirable and sustainable results.

Marketing Specialist in the St Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Vincent La Corbiniere, says quality and marketing are among the major challenges facing the non-banana sector in St Lucia right now. He says the Ministry is committed to strengthening those areas. La Corbiniere notes that banana production benefits from an established structure which includes provision of inputs, packaging and marketing.

He notes that “unless we can create that kind of structure for the non-banana sector, we are always going to run into the problems of demand outstripping supply.” La Corbiniere believes it’s critical that farmers organizations be strengthened to tap into and take advantage of niche markets. He notes that the Agri- Business and Extension Units of the Ministry of Agriculture are working assiduously to achieve that goal.

Mention was also made of efforts to restructure the St Lucia Marketing Board with greater private sector involvement alongside government and farmers groups.

Based on the visit to the Cartago operations of the Horticultural Cooperation of Costa Rica, the visiting delegation has come to the realization that St Lucia’s production capacity, quality and infrastructure are in urgent need of an overhaul.

The study tour is being financed under the European Union Special Framework of Assistance (SFA) 2005 Programme through the National Authorizing Office headed by Mr Hilary Regis, who is also accompanying the delegation in Costa Rica.

For further information: una.may@iica.int