Costa Rica papayas

Alberto Gonzalez and Eric Mora, researchers at the San Jose, Costa Rica based University of Costa Rica show off the pococi and rica varieties of papayas that they believe may have promise in the export market. Gonzalez said Costa Rica is keen to gain a reputation in papaya and other tropical fruit that it enjoys in pineapples. Costa Rica papaya exporters have petitioned the USDA for access to the U.S. market in 2005 but have not received approval yet.



Here in Costa Rica on Tuesday night, had an interesting visit earlier in the day with the above University of Costa Rica researchers using non-GMO techniques to breed papaya varieties for export markets. Tomorrow mini-vegetables, chayote and perhaps a volcano in the scenic background.

Costa Rica bound

I'm headed to Costa Rica today for a few days to explore Costa Rica agriculture. Hopefully I will have a chance to blog from the road, as my hosts will show me a wide diversity of agribusiness, including papaya, pineapple, mini-vegetables and more.

I see that President Bush has asked Congressional Democrats and president-elect Barack Obama to support the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in exchange for expedited help for U.S. automakers. One hopes that Democrats and Obama follow the advice of economics guru Nouriel Roubini and support free trade, for the sake of the global economy and U.S. agriculture.