Agriculture in Costa Rica

Costa Rican agriculture plays a profound part in the country's

Almost 10% of Costa Rica's

Climate

According to the

Costa Rica has two seasons: a dry season, which is called verano (which translates to summer) and a rainy season, which Costa Ricans call invierno (meaning winter). The dry season begins in December and ends in May, while the rainy season runs from May to November. Costa Rica has very tropical climates.

History

The history of Costa Rica dates back about 3,000 years. Archeological evidence indicates that people were living and growing maize during the time of the Curre´ archaeological phase (1500–300 BC). Fluctuations in pollen types and profusion of charcoal suggest that the intensity of human impact varied over this period.^[2]
The country's name 'Costa Rica' translates to 'Rich Coast' because the first settlers to come across the country (Christopher Columbus; although the country was inhabited by indigenous well before) believed it to hold quantities of gold based on observations of indigenous inhabitants. The rolling mountains and dense jungles were full of biologic diversity but eventually the original belief that Costa Rica was a gold rich country was proved to be wrong.

During the 19th century, coffee and banana cultivation brought some wealth to Costa Rica which resulted in class differentiation. The economy of Costa Rica was considered impoverished until the introduction of coffee in the 1820s. Small farmers were important in the production of coffee but even then wealth from the cash crop was in the hands of the elite.

The Great Banana Strike of 1934, against the United Fruit Company was an important step that would eventually lead to the formation of effective Trade unions in Costa Rica since the company was required to sign a collective agreement with its workers in 1938.^[3][4]

Major agricultural products

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has compiled the statistics which follow:^[5]

In 2018, Costa Rica produced 3.4 million tons of pineapple (it's the largest producer in the world). In the same year, the country produced 4.4 million tons of sugarcane, 2.5 million tons of banana and 1 million tons of palm oil, these being its main cultures. In addition, it produced 236 thousand tons of orange, 159 thousand tons of cassava, 158 thousand tons of rice, 143 thousand tons of melon, in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products such as coffee, papaya, potato, tomato etc.^[6]

Methods

Industrial agriculture

The primary aspect of large-scale or plantation agriculture is to produce very large quantities of agricultural goods. This type of agriculture facilitates

This type of agriculture requires altering and changing much of the landscape. Large sectors of forest are demolished to make way for huge high-yield corporate agricultural fields, which has a major influence on surrounding ecosystems. Many of the methods practiced within these monocultures cause considerable effects on surrounding biodiversity and human communities. These agricultural fields are one of the primary causes of deforestation in Costa Rica.

The clearing of forests makes more land open for plantations to harvest mass quantities of crops. Many plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammal populations are drastically declining. As a result of the heavy use of pesticides used in plantation farming and many domestic flora and fauna are dying off, while some pests, such as the very venomous Fer de lance snake are rapidly multiplying. This is due to the fact that because so much land is cleared the snake species can capture its prey with much more ease, as there is less to hide behind. This along with deforestation then affects the country's biodiversity, which (for a country that is about the size of West Virginia) accounts for 5% of the world's biodiversity.^{[citation needed]}

With such large areas of land to farm, this method of primarily monoculture farming requires the use of heavy machinery. This type of farming is also the cause of much of the country's

Numerous studies^[citation needed] have been implemented globally to determine the effects of various farming methods. Studies have reported that the energy use in conventional farming systems is 200 percent higher than that of more sustainable systems^{[dubious – discuss]}. Research showed that while organic farming typically uses more machine hours than conventional farming, total energy consumption was still a great deal higher in conventional systems because, aside from machine use on the actual farm, energy is used in the production of pesticides and other inorganic farming products.^{[7][full citation needed]}

Effects on surrounding human communities

Conventional agriculture has put pressure on indigenous customs and traditions. The use of pesticides in Costa Rican agricultural fields has nearly doubled over the past two decades. Currently Costa Rica ranks first in world pesticide use .

Many of these Costa Rican communities are beginning to the effects of globalization as many plantations are buying up land and invading indigenous areas. Recent government action has led to mitigation of such effects. "On September 12, the Administrative Tribunal of Contention ordered the relevant federal agencies – the Institute of Agrarian Development (IDA) and the National Commission of Indigenous Affairs (CONAI) – to expropriate more than 11,000 acres of land to be returned to the Bribri community of the Kekoldi reservation—this part of Bribri territory is currently occupied by non-indigenous people."^[15]

Costa Rican agricultural research and MSME support

Costa Rica's National Center for Food Science and Technology (Centro Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos (CITRA)) seeks "to research and develop knowledge in food science and technology closely linked to the agri-food sector in order to innovate, increase its competitiveness, and generate high-quality food."