Today, we visited various small farms that grow bananas, coconuts, black peppers, and other agricultural products. I was particularly interested in the banana farm run by Francini and its specific practices. I found it interesting that they grew many different plants on the farm, similar to the many coffee plantations we visited. It was interesting how the other plants played a role in increasing the quality and growth process of the banana trees. This is also an aspect shared by the coffee plantations; however, this is one of the few similarities, as there are many differences between the banana and coffee farms.
Starting off with some similarities, both the coffee and banana farms have diverse plant life on the farms, but for some different reasons. The coffee farms use diverse plants to create a healthy soil for the coffee to grow and to keep birds and bugs off of the coffee plants, allowing them to thrive. Francini’s banana farm uses diverse plant life so that the bees that live on the farm can pollinate various flowers on the plants, allowing them to grow and thrive. Another difference is the overall size and layout of the farms. While there are much larger, more industrialized banana farms, Francini’s farm is small, containing only about an acre worth of bananas growing on the property. This is exponentially smaller than the other coffee and banana farms, which leads to greater issues. Francini’s farm faces these issues from competition, with help from the community, and by taking advantage of tourism. At Francini’s, they avoid using plastic and insecticides due to the bees, and many of the locals buy products from the farm to support them and their sustainable practices. Francini’s also hosts tours and sells products to tourists to keep up with the competition, even if they don’t have as much reach as the larger farms. The tour today was insightful and provoked many questions and thoughts about the differences between the smaller and larger farms and plantations in Costa Rica.
It is crazy to me that we are almost done with our business and agricultural tours, but I look forward to learning even more on the rest of the trip.