According to various sectors that participated in the First Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Fruit Production International Congress, Nicaragua has the potential and is in a privileged position to produce fruits because of its soil, climate, and its tradition producing different fruits, both native and non-native.
The congress was organized by the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) and is part of Government efforts to promote a policy of partnership and consensus. It involves farmers and producers from across the country, public institutions, academic researchers, and university students, who will exchange practices, knowledge, as well as science and technology that will be shared by international experts.
"Given Nicaragua's great potential to produce fruit, we need to improve the organization of our producers and production companies. We must also improve productivity, product quality, and add value to our products through agricultural and industrial processes. We need to do this in the small agribusinesses as well as in the large industries, as it would allow us to have more and better food for our people, and improve our positioning in the national and international markets," said Telemaco Talavera, president of the CNU.
In addition to national experts, the Congress will have the presence of specialists from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela and Uruguay. These had presentations where they discussed what they were doing to develop the fruits, improve the management of these plantations and of the process to add value to them, so that producers could improve their productivity.
The deputy director of INTA, Miguel Obando, said that "the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology is working on technological solutions so that producers can produce the best varieties, as well as technologies for composting, obtaining certifications, and processing the products. In addition the INTA is working to train fruit and vegetable technicians."
According to the National Agricultural Census (CENAGRO), citrus fruits have the largest planted area with 70,000 to 80,000 hectares; followed by Musaceae (plantains, bananas), with nearly 50,000 hectares; avocado with 3,000 hectares; pitahaya, 2,000; and nances and cucurbits (melons, chayote, pumpkins, pomegranate, passion fruit), with some 4,000 hectares.
Source: el19digital.com