agriculture

Guandú crop suffers losses

Recent floods and smaller crops has triggered prices of the traditional legume to skyrocket.

rafael quezada/la prensa

rising: Prices of the bean have reached $4 per quarter pound. 1131817

Though sunnier days have returned to the country, farmers with guandú crops in Caimito de Penonomé, in the Coclé province, report that damage caused by last month’s rains will delay the bean’s normal growing cycle.

“We’ll have to wait until February or March 2009 to see a new guandú crop,” said farmer Eusebio Alveo, who said that this year’s losses have growers particularly worried because production rates have been steadily dropping over the last few seasons.

As a result, the shortage of guandú during a season when they are most in demand for traditional Panamanian Christmas dishes, has driven up the price of the green legume to nearly $4 per pound.

Records from the Department of Statistics for the Coclé province indicate that growers in the region produced 2,957 reaped quintals (1 quintal=100 pounds) from plantations spanning 224 hectares during the 2000-2001 season.

Recently, however, farmers throughout the region have reduced plantings, in some areas, such as Penonomé, only 32.6 hectares of guandú were cultivated in the past three years. And as fear of crop loss continues, the number of growers dedicating themselves to the crop has fallen significantly over the last decade.

Antonia González, who sells produce at the outdoor market in Penonomé, said that the supply of guandú arriving isn’t meeting demand. And Víctor Santana, owner of the Gallo Pinto restaurant nearby offering a special dish that incorporates the traditional bean, said that the steep price of guandú has cut into the restaurant’s profits.