The Plantation Diaries

Bottle Boys

The boys keep coming with their now valuable soda bottles for our Broca traps. See previous posting for full story!

Beetle Baiting

Hypothenemus hampei, otherwise known as the coffee boring beetle, or “Broca,” is a source of much concern for coffee farmers around the world. They are tiny black insects with a drill-like horn that enter young coffee beans. While they do not destroy a coffee cherry, and don't affect the flavor, they make for an unsightly hole-ridden bean. Throughout the history of coffee, infestation of the Broca has been so significant at times that farmers have literally abandoned their farms in frustration.

 
The female bores her hole, slips inside, and lays her eggs, up to 50 at a time. The larvae then feed from the coffee fruit until mature. Hundreds of Broca beetles can occupy a single tree. It is almost impossible to know if your crop has been affected until the coffee has been harvested, washed, and dried. The holes then become obvious and the beans must be discarded. A farmer may think a bumper crop is on the way, only to discover it is far less than he thought. Some farmers don't sort out these beans and then package them in their roasted, ground coffee. Once the beans are ground, the consumer cannot know the difference. 

I write all this as we too suffered from a Broca attack last year, on top of the hurricane (yes, it was a bad year indeed). While it was not significant, it got my attention. I remembered that we had several Broca traps that had been used periodically in years past. When I asked where they were, no one seemed to know. Evers came forward and said they had been thrown away in a hole. There were no explanations forthcoming as to why or when. I contained my anger and asked Evers to dig them up. He managed to produce 9 traps of the original 150 that were still in good shape. I can only imagine that Don Beto must have assumed we were cured forever of Broca attacks. This again doesn't bode well for his future, but that is for another day. 

Based on the acreage of our coffee, we actually need closer to 300 traps, and they are somewhat costly when you add the small bottles of pheromones that must be inserted into each trap. I contacted ProCafe, an organization that supports coffee growers in El Salvador. They suggested we make our own Broca traps from 2-liter soda bottles. They provided me with an instruction sheet with diagrams. This hit home as I am an advocate of recycling, a concept which barely exists here. Only soda cans and scrap metal are recycled now. Paper and plastic are casually thrown on the ground if a garbage receptacle is not nearby.  

I’ve written about the garbage problem before and how frustrating it is coming from the States, where you could be subject to $500 fines for throwing a gum wrapper out your car window. The small section of public road from town to the finca gates fills up quickly with rubbish -- everything from candy and chip wrappers, bottles, paper, and even shoes. We clean it ourselves every couple weeks as the mayor doesn’t seemed inclined to help out.

I showed the boys here the plans for the Broca traps and told them to put the word out that La Finca was collecting soda bottles. Two days went by and we collected four bottles. This wasn't working. I announced that bottles brought to the finca could be redeemed for a nickel each. Suddenly, we have had a flow of young boys marching up to the finca carrying large trash bags filled with empty 2-liter soda bottles! Good thing that I have a coin jar that is fairly full to pay these young entrepreneurs. At this rate, we should make our goal in time. We have 8 weeks to get the traps ready from the time the coffee trees bloom, which is right now!

 
The traps are fairly easy to construct. The soda bottles are cut in two with the top half inverted and pressed inside the bottom half. The pheromone bottle is set inside the lower half under the top portion, suspended over an inch of water. The units will need to be painted red to match the color of a coffee cherry and hung by wire every 20 meters. The Broca beetles, attracted by the red and then the pheromones, fly inside the bottle opening towards the bait, become trapped and drown in the water below. It is a far better method than using chemical pesticides to spray the fields. From what I have read, the chemicals used for this treatment are highly toxic requiring full jumpsuits, goggles, and gloves. Who does that? And who would want to drink their coffee?

As I write this, there are six more young boys at my door with bags of plastic bottles. Perhaps I can explain that besides earning their nickels, they are helping to clean up Tecapan. Change comes slowly here, but it begins with the young.

Sleeping Volcanoes

I discovered today, that one of the four volcanoes nearby is only asleep and not dormant as I had thought. I visited the town of Berlin with Lito, and some of his friends. He told me that there is a large Geothermal plant located just outside town with a restaurant. I was surprised to find not only a good restaurant where I had a real cappuccino (my first since arriving here in November), but also a naturally heated pool, and small sauna houses that are available for a small fee.

The plant supplies 24% of El Salvador's total energy production and produces 100 megawatts. The geothermal fields surrounding Vulcan Tecapa reach temperatures of 572 F. The area is peppered with giant pipes that transport the steam to the plant from the interior of the volcano. On a short walk around the property, I came upon several steaming and bubbling holes. It was a slightly unnerving to think of all that action taking place below my feet that is only about 15 kilometers away from La Finca. Lito told me the plant helps to release much of the pressure so Tecapa should remain asleep for years to come.

   

We spent the afternoon catching up on news, and everyone wants my bat tea compost recipe. I told them if it works, they can buy it from La Finca. When I pulled up to the finca gate today, there was a horse blocking my way. Don Samuel appeared and told me he had brought the horse for me to look at. I could have him for $100. I told him to bring the horse back when I returned. Buying a horse isn’t exactly an impulse buy, even at a $100.

I rushed home to help Evers finish up the planting of the gourds and melons as he had spent today (his day off) digging holes for me. I was tired, but since he had gone to so much trouble, I found the energy to get it done. He watched his usual Schwarzenegger movie again tonight. I think he watches the same one over and over.