In eight workshops offered in June and July 2017 in six of Costa Rica’s coffee regions, producers were trained on the topics of nutrition and fertilization, weed management, plagues and diseases as well as agroforestry systems. The workshops were organized by the Ministry for Agriculture, the National Coffee Institute and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Over 600 producers participated in the second series of workshops on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), with a total of 2,433 producers trained in the first two training modules offered by the NAMA Café in Costa Rica, supported by the NAMA Facility. A new assistance record was achieved in the Valle Central with over 120 participants. Additionally, almost 300 MAG and ICAFE technicians have been trained to carry out the GAP workshops in their regions on their own.
Second module focused on nutrition, fertilization, plagues and AFS
The workshops of the second training round consisted in four stations which had the producers rotating in small groups. At the station on nutrition and fertilization, participants learned about important nutrients necessary in order to achieve a high productivity of coffee plants, how to detect nutrient deficiencies and to efficiently apply necessary fertilizers.
At the stations for Weed Management and Plagues and Diseases, the participants learned how these are affected by Climate Change as well as how to control them in an integrated way in order to maintain productivity and harvest quality. Finally, the fourth station of Agroforestry Systems showed the importance of shade trees on coffee plantations, not only for storing and reducing the atmospheric carbon, but also for controlling the temperature and humidity inside the coffee plantation.
Next steps and follow-up
In order to brainstorm on the lessons learnt during the second series of workshops and finding possible improvements for the execution of the last training module, a workshop was held for MAG and ICAFE technicians, as well as the technicians from coffee mills on Thursday, August 3rd.
In addition, the participating producers must submit information on fertilization and forest coverage on their farms until August 31st. This data is highly important in order to raise a baseline of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in relation to the fixation of these gases in the country’s coffee regions. It is also the basis for planning GHG mitigation actions to be implemented in coffee farms all over the country.
Third GAP training module starts in August
The third and final training block will be held from August 16th to September 12th 2017. One workshop will be held on each of the coffee-growing regions dealing with the topics farm diversification – as a continuation of the training on agroforestry systems offered in the second block –, soil conservation, an introduction to farm administration for coffee growers, new coffee varieties and the importance of plantation renewal. The dates for the individual workshops are:
- August 16th, 2017, Orosi
- August 17th, 2017, Turrialba
- August 22nd, 2017, Coto Brus
- August 24th, 2017, Pérez Zeledón
- August 29th, 2017, Los Santos Tarrazú
- August 31st, 2017, Los Santos Frailes
- September 5th, 2017, Valle Central
- September 7th, 2017, Valle Occidente
- September 12th, 2017, Zona Norte
Producers interested in participating can request information about the workshops at the ICAFE or MAG headquarters in their region.
Find out more about the project.