A fund of La90million (£3.9m) has been set up by the government in Honduras to help the country's growers diversify production for export. According to Honduran press reports, the main hope for expansion in the country which depends on bananas for a large proportion of export revenue, is plantain, according to Daniel Macías, the director of the project for the modernisation of technical services for agriculture, Promosta.
Promosta will hold meetings with producers of plantain, citrus, potatoes and other products with the aim of solving some of the technical problems that are preventing their export.
According to Macías, there is demand internationally for plantain, but producers in Honduras are not yet achieving the necessary quality. Among the drawbacks growers need to overcome are pests and disease as well as a lack of adequate irrigation systems.
The main export targets in the short to medium term are Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Markets further afield such as the US and Europe could feature in the future.
Previous export diversification initiatives have helped the non-traditional sector increase sendings to account for 40 per cent of total fresh produce exports in recent seasons. Success stories include grapefruit, oranges, easy-peelers, mangoes, passionfruit, watermelons, blackberries, raspberries, squash, oriental vegetables, ginger, snowpeas and chillies.
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