The regional director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), Enrique Paz, said that Honduras would export some 300 containers of sweet potatoes, grown in 150 hectares, to the US and European Union markets.
The exports, he said, would amount to 14 million dollars, i.e. nearly 300 million lempiras by the end of 2017.
The main markets for Honduran sweet potatoes are the United States and Europe. Honduras expects to export about a thousand containers of sweet potato this year.
This is an example of how Honduran agriculture has changed in recent years, by having a bigger diversity, opening new markets, and offering new options to producers.
Sweet potato, which was traditionally cultivated in small quantities for domestic consumption, has been promoted as a non-traditional export product.
The funds of the Investment Trust for the Reactivation of Agriculture (FIRSA), granted by the government, have helped and promoted the expansion of the sweet potato category nationwide.
The next harvest will be ready in three months, as the crop cycle lasts that long in places with irrigation, Paz stated.
Source: latribuna.hn