They train fishermen to produce vegetables

The use of new technologies allows the productive diversification of 25 fishing families from the El Jocotal lagoon, in the El Tránsito district, in San Miguel, who, thanks to the Rural Adelante program of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), now produce green chili in a phased manner to boost the local economy.

“We are proud to receive these benefits and to work our chile harvest in the mesh house, thanks to the Rural Adelante program and the Government. We did not have these benefits, before we supported ourselves only from fishing, now we have another source of employment. Behind us come our children and grandchildren, whom we are already instilling in this work,” reaffirmed the producer José Amaya, who is also the legal representative of the Laguna El Jocotal Agricultural and Fisheries Production Cooperative Association of RL.

The reality of the partners and the community is changing with the government initiative focused on promoting agricultural productivity in the east of the country, with which they have implemented a 300 m2 mesh house with a misting system, bailing pumps, photovoltaic cells, among others. equipment and supplies delivered.

“The Rural Adelante program has never left us alone, it has always taken us by the hand, the engineers whenever we need help. Without them we would not have these achievements,” said the producer.

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Óscar Guardado, visited the members of the cooperative to listen to their experiences and guarantee the good performance of the program. “We have plenty of will to continue working on Sustainable Agri-Food Systems that are based on generating a differentiated agricultural matrix so that they can dedicate themselves to other areas and not just fishing. They can produce all year round, regardless of whether it is summer, the managers tell me that they sell between $200 and $400 per week, it is an income that they did not have before,” highlighted the head of the MAG.

And he added that it is gratifying to see how the advice of the MAG technicians and the operation of the mesh house’s misting system, the drip irrigation system and other technological tools.

Rural Adelante’s value chain and market access specialist, Orlando Rodríguez, explained that the advantages of having this type of technology is that there is better control of pests and diseases, which allows healthier production to achieve better prices at when marketing the product.

“The members are artisanal fishermen, who do their work in the lagoon, but in their free time they are diversifying into chili production, this is an added value that as a ministry we are doing in the area so that the members have other income. for your family group. In addition to technology, we have done some soil conservation works with living barriers, and when the pineapple bears fruit it will also be another income for families,” the specialist pointed out.

The investment of the project implemented in the Laguna El Jocotal Agricultural and Fisheries Production Cooperative Association of RL amounts to more than $43,000, of which $9,000 was allocated to mitigation works. The program is financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and is executed by the General Directorate of Rural Development of the MAG

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