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Honduras Agricultural Policy
The agricultural sector's output showed little or no
growth
between 1970 and 1985. As a result of favorable weather
and market
conditions beginning in 1985, however, the agricultural
sector grew
at a rate of 2.6 percent annually, slightly above the
average for
Latin America during that period. Production of basic
grains and
coffee increased; the export price of bananas was high;
and pork,
poultry, and milk produced for the domestic market
increased.
Nontraditional fruits and vegetables also increased in
value.
Honduran agricultural production overall has tended to
be low
because the amount of crop yielded by a given amount of
land has
been low. For example, Honduran coffee yields historically
have
been only about half those of Costa Rica. Instead of using
improved
techniques to increase the productivity of the land,
Honduran
farmers have merely expanded the hectarage under
cultivation to
produce more crops--pushing their fields ever farther into
the
forests. Given the limited amount of good quality
agricultural land
to begin with, that policy has resulted in continual
deforestation
and subsequent erosion. This reluctance to improve
techniques,
coupled with generally poor soil, a lack of credit, and
poor
infrastructure, has contributed to low production figures.
Data as of December 1993
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