Casanare's Chamber of Commerce (CCC), through the Pineapple Cluster it leads and with the support of Innpulsa Colombia, is developing an important pilot project so that Casanare becomes the first department in the country to produce organic pineapple.
The CCC is accompanying three pineapple growers to develop organic pineapples, as a first step to materialize the initiative. The fruit will be cultivated in the regions of Aguazul, Yopal, and Tauramena, in a maximum of two hectares.
"It is a pilot project that is being developed for the first time in Colombia. We are accompanying a pineapple producer in each municipality where the project is being developed," said the president of the CCC, Carlos Rojas Arenas.
A Costa Rican expert visited the plots
A Costa Rican expert visited Tauramena, Aguazul, and Yopal between April 7 and 11 to accompany the beneficiary producers. He performed pre-audit trials so that producers certify their crops. "They were already visited by the Certification Agency in a pre-audit exercise and the grounds were validated," said Carlos Rojas.
If the pilot program wants to have a greater impact, it must be sustainable and replicated in other products. As a result, they have linked 10 agronomists to the process, which will learn about the process and will be able to replicate it. They will become the leading technical assistance of a new product generated in the region.
"In addition to managing technical assistance, the CCC does this exercise so that they can certify their products. We will train the agronomists and we will explore markets to validate it with different clients to whom we sell the organic pineapple. We will motivate the generation of added value products to sell them and generate more profit," said Rojas Arenas.
They are already working on exporting products
They are already planning to produce two added-value products with organic pineapples to export them: pineapple pulp and pineapple popsicles. To achieve this, the CCC is installing processing capacities in two companies of the region so that they can add value to the fruit.
"There are two companies that are receiving a transfer of knowledge, are purchasing equipment, and are getting national and international market certifications to sell pineapple pulp and pineapple popsicles," Rojas Arenas stated.
This project is being co-financed and executed by Innpulsa and the CCC, through Agreement 09.
Source: lavozdeyopal.co