Farmer-to-Farmer Program: Day 5 - 9 Granada, Managua, Matagalpa, and Estelí

At 6 am, we caught the local bus from Granada to Managua. There were no chickens on board, but the guy drumming up business on the door did his best to keep it packed with fares. The constant stopping and starting nearly doubled the time, but at 20 córdobas (~ 90 cents) a ride, they had to line their pockets somehow.

In Managua, we got into the truck and straight back onto the road, heading to the main potato-growing region. While the highlands of Nicaragua are gorgeously pastoral and green, it can be rough going from a farmer's point of view. Since other pursuits like drying coffee and growing rice occupy the ideal land in the valleys, the steep and rocky slopes make manual and animal labor the norm for potatoes. Potatoes in Nicaragua are grown mainly for consumption. Some are used for seed, but not enough to meet demand, so much gets imported from as far as away as Europe. Very little goes for processing although french fries (chips) are on many menus, and chips (crisps) are also becoming more popular.

In Matagalpa and Estelí we met with members of potato growers' cooperatives. In the fields I saw plenty of familiar faces from my past, that is, of the insect and disease kind (e.g. leaf beetles, leafhoppers, whiteflies, white grubs, late blight, and Erwinia spp.). Growers were also worried about the newer guys as there are a couple of serious, emerging problems in Nicaragua. While there was plenty to chat about in the fields, we did formal training sessions, too. Sometimes in the most unlikely places. One was a tin-roofed, dirt-floored shack in the middle of a nature reserve, where the solar panel eeked out just enough juice to fly through one presentation and a couple videos. The ensuing discussions - almost in the dark - though were some of the most dynamic, which just goes to show that you don't always need the technology.

Visiting a warehouse gave us insight into post-harvest practices, and some suggestions were made for improving sanitation and storage. We also got better informed about the resources available by trotting around to several agricultural supply shops in town. We had to go incognito, posing as interested buyers. Apparently, the clerks in general in Nicaragua tend to deliver death stares to the shopper who dares to tell them, "I'm just looking."