Pineapples, bananas and sugarcane account for 98% of Costa Rica's organic exports to Europe, the main destination market for this type of goods.
This is according to the last report on the subject in 2016, published by the National Organic Agriculture Program, which is attached to the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE).
According to these data, pineapples account for 60% of the total sales volume, bananas for 27%, and sugarcane for 11%.
The rest of exports are distributed among products such as cocoa, coffee, papaya, guava, ginger, carambola, and acai, the report states.
Organic accreditation requires a series of practices that eliminate the use of chemicals, both in the control of pests and diseases, as in fertilization. Organic certifications are issued both for farms with agricultural production, and for those that combine it with livestock (milk, pigs, goats and others).
In total, last year Costa Rica exported 13.72 million kilos of organic products to European countries, where consumption of this type of products has increased, especially in recent years.
In addition, Costa Rica achieved certification by the European Union (EU) as a third country. This implies that the EU recognizes the Costa Rican Organic Agriculture Program and the certifications awarded by the authorized agencies in Costa Rica. As a result, a product with a Costa Rican certificate can enter the EU countries.
Demand
Engineer Maria Fernanda Reyes, the ex-director of the program, said that the high concentration was mainly due to the high demand of these three specific products.
She said that exporters of pineapple, banana and cane (which is usually shipped as raw sugar) already had a captive market in the EU, which not only acquires all of what is currently being sent, but is also requesting more volume.
As a matter of fact, the small volume of the other products, certified as organic, is becoming the main barrier to increase shipments abroad, Reyes said.
Costa Rica produces a wide variety of organic products, in particular vegetables and fruits, but almost all of them remain in the domestic market.
In general (including crops for export and for domestic consumption), the country registered 7,908 hectares with organic certification, in 2016. That is a slight recovery from the 7,819 hectares certified in 2015.
Of this total area, 2,982 hectares are of bananas, 1,404 of pineapples, 1,681 of cocoa, 696 of coffee, 457 of sugar cane, and 388 of vegetables. The rest is distributed in many other products, such as beans, cassava, medicinal herbs, mulberry, vanilla, aloe, papaya, and noni.
Source: eleconomista.net