Pineapple Tour + River Float

Lifecyle of pineapple

- plant crowns --> grow for 7 to 16 months before flower emerges

- after 9 months they add ethylene gas to induce flowering

- non-organic use pesticides to remove bugs; organic use chili sauce to get rid of bugs

pineapple is a ground _____

bromeliad

Why grow pineapple?

best region of the country to grow pineapple; same weather year round, fertile volcanic soil

____ and ____ own a lot of pineapple plantations in CR. They originally had plantations in ____ and left because____

Dole and Del Monte; originally haf plantations in Hawaii before they exhausted all the nutrients from the soil

Who primarily works on the CR pineapple plantations?

Nicaraguans

Controversy regaring pineapple farming in CR

provides jobs but is bad for the environment due to pesticides/herbicides and the amount of space it takes up

Cons of organic farming

more expensive (why people buy it less), difficult to be 100% organic

Cons of mass-scale pineapple farming for maximum production

soil erosion and exhaustion; not meant to be grown at such a large/fast level

Health problems associated with pesiticide use in crops in CR

colon cancer and gastric cancer

Why do conventional farms burn pineapple plantations?

- to clear fields for the next planting cycle/faster land preparation

- manage pests and fungal disease

- nutrient recycling from ash

Why does pineapple taste better in CR than USA?

dehydrates with transport; must be picked earlier for transport to the USA when green and less developed so doesnt spoil

What rivers did we float on?

Puerto Viejo --> Sarapiqui

Significance of the La Selva Biological Station

created buffer zones to protect rivers from erosion due to farming

- run by OTS (organization of tropical studies); started by Leslie Holdridge

Importance of buffer zones/difference in La Selva vs. farmland portion of the river float

protects lush trees and levels of land; banks look more firm ; domestic animals before La Selva

Two major lessons to learn from river float

rivers are threatened by development + buffer zones protect biodiversity

What is a Holdridge Zone?

bioclimatic scheme for classifying land areas