Sweet Potato Exports Begin from Honduras

Honduras (January 20, 2004) - In Honduras, sweet potato is usually grown in limited quantities by small growers and sold on the local market. Quality is poor and yields average 30,000 lbs/hectare as a result of the lack of production technologies. The Centro de Desarrollo de Agronegocios (CDA), a USAID-funded project implemented by Fintrac, identified sweet potato as a possible export crop after discussions with buyers in Europe. "Growers need high-value products as part of their crop rotation programs to break pest cycles and increase sales income" explained Ricardo Lardizabal, Fintrac's Production Manager. Planting materials were obtained from a local research institute and reproduced to start a calendarized planting program of 2 hectares every 2 weeks. Planting started in April 2003 and 35 hectares to date have been planted by 15 growers in the Comayagua, Siguatepeque, La Paz, Jesus de Otoro and Lake Yojoa regions. The growers presently involved already have experience with other crops such as jalapeño peppers and selected vegetables and were provided technical assistance and training in production practices specific to sweet potato.

The present buyer in Holland required both sweet potato and Valencia yuca with start-up volumes of one to two containers per month. Shipments are made through a small export operation with packing facilities in Comayagua and Lake Yojoa. Exports began in September 2003 and five containers have been shipped totaling 120 thousand pounds of sweet potato and 90 thousand pounds of Valencia yuca. Buyer feed-back has indicated that the product can compete successfully against major suppliers in the market, including South Africa. Based on production experience to date, several improvements have been made in the production systems, including the use of biological controls produced by the Escuela Agricola Panamericana, increased plant densities, customized fertilization programs, and better virus control. All growers are using Good Agriculture Practices following the EUREPGAP protocol.

According to Antonio Coello, Fintrac's Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, "There have been initial production problems, but this is to be expected with a completely new crop, and these are being overcome. Planting areas were increased to 2 hectares a week in December 2003. We expect exports in 2004 to increase to 50 containers with an export value of $0.5 million and grower sales of $0.25 million".