CR2 - Bouquets Worldwide 9.5

8/12/2019 CR2 - Bouquets Worldwide 9.5

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Country file

FlowerTECH 2006, vol. 9/no. 510 www.HortiWorld.

Bouquets worldwide profit

from Costa Rican leaves

Foliage is an important

export item for the Costa

Rican ornamental sector

and one whose sale dynamics

is closely influenced by that of

tropical flowers. Since most of

these flowers are destined to

floral designs and bouquets,

they require a certain amount

of foliage to go with it.

Prices of tropical flowers fluc-

tuate along the year; with high-

er prices usually found between

January and May. In the rest of

the year, flower production is

up in other countries, making

tropical flower prices fall.

However, not every country can

supply sufficient amounts of

foliage, so these countries have

to drop their flower prices in

order to keep their customers.

International buyers thus

acquire their flowers from such

sources and complement them

with foliage from Costa Rica.

This way local foliage growers

stay in the market throughout

the year, others in Costa Rica

can sell both foliage and flower

together in bouquets year-

round.

According to tropical plant

consultant Guillermo Murillo,

a foliage enthusiast, the direct

sales of ready bouquets from

farms to supermarkets (without

brokers) are on the rise in

Costa Rica as well. A world-

wide trend due to its higher

added value, it allows more net

earnings for flower growers

with the addition of foliage

and the use of labour. He advo-

cates a 2:1 ratio of foliage to

flower acreage, as a general

advice. According to data from

Procomer, the export of bou-

quets alone brought in US $1.4

million in 2002; $1.9 million

in 2003; and $2.1 million in

2004, as well as in 2005.

The main Costa Rican market

so far has been the US, pene-

tration in Europe has been

more difficult due to the fact

that there are other established

routes and suppliers that retail

ers rely on.

EU relationship

However, the economic rela-

tionship with the EU has

improved lately, especially

regarding the trade of agricul-

tural products, with actions

such as lowering import taxes.

Scandinavian countries are a

growing market for Costa Rica

plants; as is the demanding

Japanese market; Russia

remains important, but not

quite at the same level as

before their financial crisis.

China, as always, is a big

potential market as well.

Most EU purchases are of fin

ished plants, ready to be mar-

keted, while the US buys main

ly basic material for furthergrowth before its sale.

A director of the Costa Rican

Investment Board (CINDE) at

the time of the US-supported

new crop programme,

Guillermo was one of the

agronomists responsible for

electing the 20 crops that had

export potential for the diversi

fication of the Costa Rican

economy. Eventually becomin

The sales of foliage, in its strict sense of leaves only, is a

success factor to the exports of tropical flowers from

Costa Rica. Ranked sixth of all exports from Costa Rica,

foliage allows the transformation of flowers from an

agricultural product into bouquets, anywhere in the

world, from the US to Europe.

By Mauricio C. Mathias

Tropical plant

consultant Guillermo

Murillo

Product 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005*

Banana 665.94 629.37 543.72 505.72 471.69 555.46 556.16 475.38

Coffee 409.25 288.74 274.09 161.84 165.13 201.32 229.23 230.64

Pineapples 114.32 130.81 121.09 139.91 160.02 197.21 259.89 325.48

Foliage, leaves and such 55.89 58.62 62.76 59.42 60.15 56.35 64.20 65.41

Ornamental Plants 50.43 54.97 54.57 54.12 59.18 66.69 72.18 70.19

Flowers and buds 24.09 24.34 24.50 23.30 26.73 28.92 30.15 34.68

Ornamental Total 130.41 137.93 141.83 136.84 146.06 151.96 166.53 170.28

Source: Procomer, Promotora del Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica, Banco Central

* not final

Table 1. Main agricultural exports from Costa Rica, in US $ million.


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in charge of the ornamental

programme, which in turn

fared the best now ranking

sixth of all exports of the Costa

Rican economy and is fourth in

value among exported agricul-

tural products (Table 1).

Main foliage items from Costa

Rica are ferns, palms and corde-

lyne. Approximate figures for

their production are: 1,700 ha offerns, 1,200 ha of Phoenix palm

and 400 ha of cordelyne. Most

palms are grown in the North

region, but also in the Central

and Atlantic areas where they

can be grown without shading

because it is often cloudy.

Fern leavesWithin foliage, fern leaves

(called fronds) are the main

item, its exports alone bring in

$52 million. Typical fincas de

helecho (fern farms, in

Spanish) are joint-ventures of

Costa Rican and US compa-

nies, where North Americans

contribute with capital and

guaranteed sales; while land

and labour are local. Fronds

are exported by boat; while

60% of other foliage are

shipped by airplane and 40%

by boat. Fern producers found-

ed their own association in2000, The Costa Rican

Association of Fern Producers

and Exporters (Acopehel), it

includes 63 companies, encom-

passing 78% of the Costa Rican

fern production. They endorse

the use of IPM, and other prac-

tices such as the monitoring of

water quality.

The leather-leaf fern (Rumohra

adiantiformis), is cultivated

mostly in the Central Valley, at

altitudes ranging from 800 to

1,800 m. And although it is

originally from South America,

Costa Rica is the worlds largest

fern exporter. In order to

reduce the impact of the use of

chemicals on both the environ-

ment and farm workers, 12

fern farms, adding up to 252

ha, formed the Rainforest

Alliance and became ECO OK

certified in 2002.

Finca El Rincn

Part of the Rain Forest Alliance,

El Rincn exports an average of

7,000 bunches per week, most-

ly to Europe. With 10 ha of

ferns grown under 10% shade,

owner Diego Argello explains

that the average yield is around

45 to 50,000 bunches (of 20

fronds) per ha per year, with

20% being discarded, averageprices are $0.10 per frond. He

estimates that start-up costs are

around $30,000 per ha to har-

vest fronds. As with most crops,

the higher the yield, the lower

the quality. An important qual-

ity issue is to harvest frond

without spores on their back-

side, another is copper spray-

ings to avoid antracnose in

young leaves. Manager Marlene

Monge concludes, Each plant

has a leaf cut out every 45 days,

but its important to keep a cer-

tain biomass in the shrub, not

depleting it, and the reproduc-

tion is done via rhizome or

spores. Another promising

crop at El Rincn is Fatsia

japonica, a new crop in Costa

Rica, but already a traditional

foliage in Italy and Israel.

Palm leaves

No whole palm plants, of any

size, can be exported to the US

market, a measure that benefits

growers in the Miami area

but palm leaves are another

important product. There are

no restrictions to the European

market however,

which at least partly

explains why

around 50% of

Costa Rican plantexports go to that

destination, in spite

of its longer dis-

tance (see Table 3).

Also, in order to

continue exporting

to the US all Costa

Rican farms had to

become certified

since 2001, upon a

course attendance,

against bioterrorism. As for the

EU market, mandatory certifi-

cation begins in 2007 (either

EurepGAP or ISO); but this is

expected to have no impact in

the overall business as almost

all farms have already com-

plied and obtained their certifi-

cation.

The sales of detached leaves,

come from plants grown for

this as a main purpose and as a

sub-item of the cultivation of

whole plants, such as palms.

One of the strong points of

Costa Rican ornamental indus-

try is the high rate of utilisa-

tion of individual plants, from

which five or so sub-products

are sometimes obtained.

Year Products Destination Companies

2001 36 64 220

2002 37 63 221

2003 35 65 225

2004 37 62 219

2005 39 60 214

* Includes products with export value higher than $200; destina-

tions with export values above $1,000 and companies exporting

more than $12,000 annually.

Table 2. Number of products, destinationsand companies: plants, flowers and foliage*,

2001-2005.

Traditional foliage in several Mediterranean countries,

Fatsia japonica is relatively new to Costa Rica.

The aim should be to harvest young fronds without spores (right); on the left an

old leaf that is showing spores.

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Some of them are tips, branch-

es, leaves, and finally the sale of

the whole plant as a final prod-

uct for landscaping, or as a

mother plant, or still as a prod-

uct to be finished by foreign

growers. This significantly

increases the earnings per m2,

even though it may not be visi-

ble at first sight when one

enters some local companies,

being so small that they make

one wonder how it can be prof-

itable. Before production, uni-

versity studies researched for the

best species or varieties to be

grown and marketed. The main

farm infrastructure investment

usually is shade-cloth covering

and studies are now determin-

ing its effect on different

species. Guillermo is adamant

about its effect. There is no

general rule so we shouldnt

generalise, colour shade effect is

particular to each species and

sometimes variety-specific. So,

irrespective of what any sales-

man may tell you, there is no

rule of thumb. You have to

know how your crop behaves

under coloured shading.

Foliage La Reventazn

For example, when Phoenix roe-

bellini plants are started out,

on-site experiments found out

that red shade after germina-

tion gives a two to three-month

head start to the leaf-harvest;

with 30 to 40 cm in height

palm trees are ready to go to

the field. Once there, it is

important to trim the bottom

leaves once a month to spur its

growth in height. Its economi-

cal importance can be seen as a

field of the Phoenix palm has

an average of 12,500 plants per

ha, and an average of one leaf

per plant per week is harvested.

Farms like Foliage La Reventa-

zn can produce 40,000 expor-

table leaves per ha per month,

with prices that go from $0.12

for a 60 cm long leaf to $0.20

for a one-metre leaf.

With 22 ha in area, La

Reventazn is large for the

Atlantic area and grows more

than 20 plant species, employ-

ing 30 people. Farm manage-

ment is always crucial for the

success of any enterprise, but

even more so when operations

are not based on high technol-

ogy, but labour-, and land-intensive. In order to increase

land-use efficiency, new palm

trees are planted in between

the older ones, months before

these are uprooted to be sold

as whole plants at the end of

their cycle as a source of leaves.

So that when this happens, the

new planting is already estab-

lished and under way, whole

palm trees are usually sold for

$5 for every 30 cm of trunk

and go for sale once they are 1

m to 1.2 m high.

At La Reventazn, soil and

foliar analysis are done every

three weeks, since it is essentia

to monitor nutrition and to

maintain quality; pH manage-

ment is crucial to control the

availability of nutrients and th

fertilisation programme is

changed accordingly.

As with every ornamental,

individual leaves are sold for

their beauty, so nutrition is

fundamental to guarantee goo

appearance. Magnesium is a

key element for leaf colour in

general, whereas Phoenix is

specially demanding in potass

um. No copper can be used in

any palm trees, as they are phy

totoxic; flooding is detrimenta

to palms as well.

Pests and diseases are anotheimportant factor and scale

insects can become a nuisance

as they are frequently associat-

ed with ants, in a biorelation,

ant control gives good results

against scales. Phoenix leaves

have a good shelf life, resisting

45 days at 0C, alllowing ship

transportation in containers.

[email protected]

Country 2004* % 2005* %

USA 65.7 40.4% 73.2 42.9%

The Netherlands 54.1 33.3% 55.7 32.7%

Germany 16.2 10.0% 15.4 9.1%

Canada 3.8 2.4% 4.0 2.3%

Italy 2.5 1.5% 3.2 1.9%

Others 20.2 12.5% 18.9 11.1%

Total 162.5 100.0% 170.4 100.0%

* In US $ million

Table 3. Main export destination for plants, flowers andfoliage, 2004-2005.

For land efficiency reasons, at La Reventazn newer plants are planted in the mid-

dle of old trees.

For a one-metre leaf, prices can go up to $0.20.

Documents

CR2 - Bouquets Worldwide 9.5