We had arguably the best tour host today at the pineapple plantation. While there were troubles starting the tractor, it only added to my understanding of how hard it is to run a farm. As our guide explained, growing organic pineapples is not very profitable. So when there is a problem such as a broken tractor, it is as big as having no running water for us.
Other threats could include the pineapple simply not growing. In fact, they must use a special gas to make the pineapple grow. They do not grow naturally on their own.
As far as bananas go, there is a disease translated as “Panama bad” which can wreak havoc on not only a single plant, but other as well. Possibly taking down the whole plantation. It seems as though bananas are under a much bigger threat. There are MANY diseases that can attack them. This is due to the modern banana being a biological clone. But due to this, scientists are able to identify all of the problems bananas can face very quickly. So there is a system of pros and cons when deciding which plant to grow.
The general idea in America is to diversify crops. We see a little bit of this here and many farms also grow black pepper. If I were to run a farm I would also use this idea and grow black pepper along with coffee.
This is for a few reasons. Primarily due to how the coffee industry in Costa Rica is more of a family. We learned this at Doka, they try to make the brand “Costa Rica” instead of farm A, B, C, D, E, F, G etc. Because of this it is also very regulated. While slightly scary, this also helps as you would know EXACTLY what to do by just reading the regulations. Lastly, and most importantly, the price. Costa Rican coffee fetches VERY good prices. Just due to how premium the bean is considered. Other factors that help this one are the cheap labor workers coming from Nicaragua. The season only lasts a few months so this helps bring the costs down. And then every few years Brazil(the biggest coffee producer) will have a down year due to a heavy winter. Having a boost in profits due to supply and demand is never a bad thing.