NewsWhore
11-16-2009, 03:10 PM
Some 30 years ago, farmers in the Central Mountains chose not to plant macadamia trees, mostly because they did not understand or appreciate the crop's potential.
Manuel Arsenio Urena, a prominent businessman from the hills south of Santiago de los Caballeros, asked the board of Plan Sierra if he could plant the seedlings from California so that they would not go to waste.
This was the beginning of the DR's macadamia crop that now consists of over 9,000 trees and rising. Public and private institutions are involved in the process. Companies such as Helados Bon (the second producer to come on board) together with Agro-Business Board (JAD), the Dominican Environmental Consortium (CAD) and their Macadamia Cluster, are teaching the small-scale hill farmers just how to make the most of these nuts.
The Dominican Republic has excellent areas for growing macadamia. Places like Polo, Barahona, and Jarabacoa and Constanza are ideal for growing the trees. In fact, so are most of the nation's hills.
At US$15 dollars per kilo, the crop has attractive market potential, and production is increasing by 12% a year. One of the advantages of the crop is that it can be grown alongside other tree crops such as lemons, oranges, pine, avocado or even bananas. Coffee is a popular companion crop and with 90,000 seedlings being processed for dozens of small-scale farmers waiting for them to plant the next cycle.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
Manuel Arsenio Urena, a prominent businessman from the hills south of Santiago de los Caballeros, asked the board of Plan Sierra if he could plant the seedlings from California so that they would not go to waste.
This was the beginning of the DR's macadamia crop that now consists of over 9,000 trees and rising. Public and private institutions are involved in the process. Companies such as Helados Bon (the second producer to come on board) together with Agro-Business Board (JAD), the Dominican Environmental Consortium (CAD) and their Macadamia Cluster, are teaching the small-scale hill farmers just how to make the most of these nuts.
The Dominican Republic has excellent areas for growing macadamia. Places like Polo, Barahona, and Jarabacoa and Constanza are ideal for growing the trees. In fact, so are most of the nation's hills.
At US$15 dollars per kilo, the crop has attractive market potential, and production is increasing by 12% a year. One of the advantages of the crop is that it can be grown alongside other tree crops such as lemons, oranges, pine, avocado or even bananas. Coffee is a popular companion crop and with 90,000 seedlings being processed for dozens of small-scale farmers waiting for them to plant the next cycle.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)