The country's producers and exporters of plantain, who have been having a bad productive season, have placed their hopes on the entry of Honduran and Salvadoran importers.
Aquiles Sanchez, president of the Association of Plantain Producers from Rivas (Aplari), said their presence allowed them to achieve better selling prices abroad.
"These importers arrived a month ago and went to the Island of Ometepe (Rivas) to buy as much musacea as they could. They represent a good opportunity for our sales," said Sanchez.
According to data from the Center for Export Procedures (CETREX), the average price per kilo of plantain exports between January 1 and October 26 this year stood at $0.40 dollars, while it stood at $0.36 dollars in the same period of 2015.
Between January and October 2016, producers exported 22.08 million kilos of plantain, which allowed them to make 9.01 million dollars.
A higher number when compared to the same period of 2015 when the country exported 20.05 million kilos and had revenues that amounted to 7.37 million dollars.
After a bad streak
According to Sanchez, the exporters situation has improved because the weather has allowed them to have better yields.
"We come from having el Niño (a climatological phenomenon that produces drought) for two years and our crops were affected by a lack of water and high winds," he said.
However, Sanchez said, producers in the south are more optimistic in this production cycle and expect to harvest up to 60,000 units per acre.
Official forecasts
According to the 2016-2017 Production, Consumption, and Trade Plan, the country had 25,211 acres devoted to plantains in the previous productive cycle that yielded 463.3 million units.
"We expect to have a planted area of 30,000 acres and a production area of 21,000 acres with yields of 30,000 units per acre and a production of 630 million units per cut," states the report.
Source: laprensa.com.ni