BRIEFS. agriculture

Organic fertilizer from boquete earns honors

An organic fertilizer from Boquete, Chiriquí is among the award-winning fertilizers to be recognized by Competencia Talento e Innovación de las Américas 2008 at the end of the month.

Demetrio Díaz Menéndez, who has nine years of experience making organic fertilizers, created the Aboquete brand to improve the country´s agricultural production. Díaz and his family are now working to develop a plant that produces other "bioproducts," which are made from renewable resources, and intends to capture the fertilizer plant's biogas byproduct for use as fuel.

Right now Aboquete is producing about 3,000 quintals (1 quintal>100 lbs) of organic fertilizer per month with equipment specialized for milling, blending and controlling product quality," said Díaz.

Díaz's Aboquete brand was one of 29 fertilizers to compete in the Pan-American talent competition. Finals will be held on May 30 in Medellín, Colombia.