Black Pepper: Hope for the Future?
Through Larry's friendship with some folks from the Pico Bonito Foundation here in La Ceiba, several of us (Larry, Lesbin, Tim, Tom and Kelly), got to see this black pepper demonstration farm on the edge of the Pico Bonito National Park. The farmer who took us around had planted a relatively small area with black pepper, alternated with rows of guama trees, which keep the soil in place, add their nutritious leaves to the humus, fix nitrogen for the pepper plants, and provide firewood for the farmer. The pepper plants are trained up another leguminous tree that also fixes nitrogen and sheds nutrient rich leaves.
Right now, if I remember correctly, black pepper goes for about 30 lempiras a pound, compared with corn, which is usually less than 5 lempiras a pound. So, if the price stays relatively high, and pepper proves relatively easy to grow, it could be an excellent economic alternative for some local farmers. Larry already has a few black pepper plants, and has been experimenting with guama barriers, so the visit was an added encouragement to him -- although he was disappointed to find out that this demonstration farm is not self-sufficient. So, even if it proves to be a viable alternative, there is still the obstacle of introducing it to farmers who cannot afford to make big mistakes if their families are to have enough to eat.
Here Larry and Lesbin learn about pruning the pepper plant for maximum production...
And here we take in the view...
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