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Nicaragua Crops
Coffee
Large-scale coffee growing began in Nicaragua in the
1850s,
and by 1870 coffee was the principal export crop, a
position it
held for the next century. Coffee is a demanding crop,
however,
because coffee trees require several years to produce a
harvest,
and the entire production process requires a greater
commitment
of capital, labor, and land than do many other crops.
Coffee also
grows only in the rich volcanic soil found on mountainous
terrain, making transportation of the crop to the market
difficult.
In 1992 more land was planted in coffee than in any
other
crop. The actual amount of land devoted to coffee varies
somewhat
from year to year, but averaged 210,000 hectares in the
1980s.
Production is centered in the northern part of the central
highlands north and east of Estelí, and also in the hilly
volcanic region around Jinotepe. Although production of
coffee
dropped somewhat in the late 1980s, the 1989 crop was
still
42,000 tons. Nicaragua's poor transportation system and
ecological concerns over the amount of land devoted to
growing
crops on volcanic slopes in the Pacific region limit
further
expansion of coffee cultivation. These limitations have
led
growers to explore planting other crops in undeveloped
areas of
the country.
Data as of December 1993
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