Global Partnership: Portland Roasting → El Paternal → IMT India → Anacafe
August 29, 2008
El Paternal, in Huehuetenango, is our
Farm Friendly Direct partner in Guatemala. We are committed to supporting
a five-year fertilization program that would not only enhance the health
of the plants but also aim to increase the volume of production and
quality of the coffee. You may recall our last project here was designing
and installing a wastewater treatment facility.
The experiment started last year in El Paternal with a fertilization program called Balanced Plant Nutrition™ (BPN™). This technology has been developed by the Institute of Micronutrient Technology located in Pune, India.
This program encompasses the concepts of nutrient management based on the crop type, soil type and stage of plant growth. Use of BPN™ ensures proper ratios of essential nutrients getting a positive response from each coffee shrub. Each plant is controlled by its genetic code, which determines the maximum potential of a crop. It is important to add that yield and optimal growth are closely related to external conditions and internal conditions as well as genetic potential.
Through several leaf and soil analysis tests we determined the exact ratios of all micronutrients in the plants and soil. The reason this global partnership works is because IMT India provides the expertise and micronutrients, El Paternal is an eager grower ready to learn about new growing practices, and Anacafe is supervising to provide local expertise in the project. Portland Roasting is putting it all together in the hope that El Paternal will double its yield within a five-year period. “Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”
This program ensures proper ratios of essential nutrients enabling the plant to complete its life cycle via foliar sprays. We started applying fertilizer last year to prepare the root system as well as increase the foliar density to get the plant to set more berries in the coming crops, hence the increase in production. This year the plants are more prepared to set more berries per branch. The same process will follow next year with a different level of production and the year after until the entire farm reaches a steady production volume close to the genetic potential of the coffee plants.
In addition, we are implementing the Rainforest Alliance Certification that aims to maintain compliance with the Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Its mission is to integrate productive agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and human development. Based on Miguelina’s (the farm owner) information, El Paternal farm will be the first farm certified in the area. We are eager to complete this process diligently to help El Paternal become a model farm in that region.
The experiment started last year in El Paternal with a fertilization program called Balanced Plant Nutrition™ (BPN™). This technology has been developed by the Institute of Micronutrient Technology located in Pune, India.
This program encompasses the concepts of nutrient management based on the crop type, soil type and stage of plant growth. Use of BPN™ ensures proper ratios of essential nutrients getting a positive response from each coffee shrub. Each plant is controlled by its genetic code, which determines the maximum potential of a crop. It is important to add that yield and optimal growth are closely related to external conditions and internal conditions as well as genetic potential.
Through several leaf and soil analysis tests we determined the exact ratios of all micronutrients in the plants and soil. The reason this global partnership works is because IMT India provides the expertise and micronutrients, El Paternal is an eager grower ready to learn about new growing practices, and Anacafe is supervising to provide local expertise in the project. Portland Roasting is putting it all together in the hope that El Paternal will double its yield within a five-year period. “Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”
This program ensures proper ratios of essential nutrients enabling the plant to complete its life cycle via foliar sprays. We started applying fertilizer last year to prepare the root system as well as increase the foliar density to get the plant to set more berries in the coming crops, hence the increase in production. This year the plants are more prepared to set more berries per branch. The same process will follow next year with a different level of production and the year after until the entire farm reaches a steady production volume close to the genetic potential of the coffee plants.
In addition, we are implementing the Rainforest Alliance Certification that aims to maintain compliance with the Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Its mission is to integrate productive agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and human development. Based on Miguelina’s (the farm owner) information, El Paternal farm will be the first farm certified in the area. We are eager to complete this process diligently to help El Paternal become a model farm in that region.
