Grape Production Trip Report
Volunteers: Brian Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick Winery and Vineyards, Fair Play, California
Activity:
Grape Production
Location: Otoro Valley, Intibuca, Honduras
Dates: July 26 - August 7, 1998
Upon arrival in Miami, I already felt as though I had entered Latin America. Espanol
was the language most spoken. In waiting for the morning flight from Miami to Tegucigalpa, my presence (work boots hanging over my camera bag and a black shirt with raised fist saying 'Dirt First') attracted
the attention of the director Keith Andrews of Zamorano (the international Ag school) who invited me to come visit and share my knowledge of organic farming.
Landing in
Tegucigalpa, after a fairly long wait to pass immigration, I was greeted and rescued from the chaos by my Peace Corps cohorts: Paul Teeple, Adam and Cynthia. My indoctrination began immediately as we
maneuvered our vehicle to Peace Corps Headquarters, to the Embassy and back. Then off on our journey to the land of Jesus de Otoro (about 3 hours north). Cynthia discussed the project and its objectives with
me. Tuesday - Day Three: My day started way too early with a level of noise I am not accustomed. The neighborhood's many roosters screamed bloody murder from three in the morning until dawn
followed by a variety of transportation sounds that left no chance of recapturing any lost sleep.
At 8am sharp Cynthia corralled us into our cozy little classroom and
introduced the farmers and I. As I began to lecture, Adam carefully translated my lessons to the students. We began by responding to the farmers questions regarding what they were most interested in
discussing. Vine propagation and pruning were the first topics. After a couple hours, the students(farmers) and their teacher (me) busted out of the classroom and headed for their vineyards. We visited two
vineyards and discussed the pros and cons of their arbor style of pruning. With a little reluctance, I was persuaded to prune several vines the way I thought they should be ( with little knowledge of vine
response in the tropics). And we discussed my reservations that the typical vine response to pruning dormant vines may not translate well on vines grown in the tropics that never truly go dormant. They
explained to me their method of stripping all the leaves after harvest to simulate a rest period for the vine. The idea of two crops of grapes per year was quite novel to me.
Back to the classroom after our 'plato typico' lunch to discuss pruning in detail. I introduce many pruning techniques and their appropriate applications. And then I began
discussing the basics of fertilization, nutrient by nutrient. Some of the students posed many questions. I always looked to them to help me understand their current methods and their concerns. I thoroughly
exhausted Adam by the days end in his translation duties for which I am forever grateful. Cynthia's organizational skills and firm hand insured the farmers commitment and I think I captured their interest in
what could be accomplished in the days to come. Wednesday - Day Four: 6:30 am and we were loading up in vehicles to journey out to the Chinese Experimental Agricultural station near Comayagua.
On the way there we couldn't resist a rest stop to eat some roadside watermelons for breakfast.
The Ag station's Director greeted us and guided us on a tour of his vineyards.
The varieties included Ribier, Cardinal, Italia and Queen. The trellis systems were a high headed quadrilateral cordons on an overhead T. The director shared with us a wealth of experience on combating
powdery mildew, downy mildew and anthracnose in the tropics and answered many questions. He also explained the seasonal sequence of a tropical vineyard: 2 crops per year but the vines does not experience
dormancy or rest naturally. The grower must remove all leaves post harvest to simulate a dormant period for about 30 days after which new growth begins on a new cycle. Realize the rest of the grape growing
world for which grapes are naturally adapted have only one crop per year with a long 3-4 month dormancy. This tropical phenomenon is very significant to the cultural practices.
The Ag station director treated all of us to an unexpected lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Comayagua.
In the afternoon, further discussions
ensued. And we had a presentation on drip irrigation (or actually a very low pressure soaker hose). Like any farmer, they were all ears for this new concept of irrigation. However in Jesus de Otoro there
would be little need at this point to abandon their simple but effective gravity fed flood irrigation from the ditch system.
Thursday - Day Five 8am - Classroom in Jesus de Otoro - Recap of
Wednesday's field trip and discussion. Then I lectured on the fundamentals of soil nutrition: major and micro nutrients, nutrient movement in soil and within plants, application methods and material options.
I discussed the concept and application of green manure crops and the fixation of nitrogen with leguminous plants. Then I focused on the idea of the soil as a living thing which needs compost to fuel its
engine and feed the many species of organisms that make soil fertile. Details were given on small farm scale compost making and management. I also introduced them to a recipe for making compost tea. Paul
Teeple came from Peace Corps headquarters and jumped right in as my translator to give Adam a welcomed break.
After lunch we were off to Siquatepeque to visit ag supply store
to see first hand what materials were available to farmers for fertilization and disease/pest control. The salesman was very helpful and I gathered prices so I could evaluate and compare what material would
be the best value and suited for our Ottoro farmers' needs. We returned to Jesus and collapsed. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for Adam to translate the mountain of information I was presenting.
Friday - Day Six 8am - Classroom in Jesus de Otoro - The director of the Chinese Ag Station came to attend my lecture today. I began lecturing on soil sampling methods so everyone understood
the importance of the sampling method. Then I discussed each element that could be tested for and what it's significance was to plant nutrition. Then I summarized with my recommendation for which tests
should be performed for the most probable needs of grape growing in Otoro.
After lunch, we began visiting vineyards as a group to collect soil samples. Accomplished sampling
4 vineyards at two depths: 0-8" and 8"-24" plus or minus depending the penetrable depth of the soil. We bagged and marked every sample for transport to the soil lab. I kept notes on each
sample location.
Saturday - Day Seven 8am - Visited remaining two vineyards and took soil and water samples as before. Worked until noon.
Sunday - Day Eight 7am took bus to La
Esperanza to visit Market Day. Bought fruits and vegetables. Would loved to have bought more if I had a place to refrigerate and cook. I made dinner for Adam, Lisa, Cynthia and Chris and enjoyed learning a
lot about their experiences with the Peace Corps.
Monday - Day Nine 6am - We left to visit only winegrape vineyard in Honduras. Located in Santa Lucia, about three hours away and at 4800 foot
elevation, the grapes acted more similar to those of northern latitudes. These grapes experienced natural dormancy and had only one crop per year. The vineyard is planted entirely to the Italian variety
Fresia trained on bi-lateral cordons which appeared to be suitable except that the current crop was less than significant in quantities. This vineyard is planted on steep slopes that are terraced with
excellent erosion control utilizing a mowed natural cover. Owner was out of town so we did not get a tour of their winemaking facility which would have offered great educational possibilities.
That afternoon we visited one of our farmer/students, Ricardo Ramirez (80), at Tegucigalpa's general hospital. What an eye opener that was.
We
always made excellent use of our driving time answering our student/farmers' questions and formulating plans for the following day(s).
That evening, back in Jesus de Otoro, I
prepared my notes for tomorrow's recap and recommendations.
Tuesday - Day Ten 6am - Off to San Pedro with soil and water samples. We arrived in La Lima at the FHIA soil lab at 8am and
discussed testing techniques with the head lab technician Rebecca. I was impressed that the lab had the same equipment I was familiar with at UCDavis soil lab. We met with the Lab's director and Cynthia
managed to squeeze a 10% discount for our soil and water tests. Even though all our samples were well marked, the paper work took about two hours.
I would like to have
copies of the soil test results sent or emailed to me so I could prepare some written recommendations for each farm and bring back with me to Honduras in late November.
I
enjoyed the opportunity to see more of Honduras during the long drive to and fro La Lima and feel strongly that the time was well spent to have hand delivered these soil and water samples and se the lab.
2:30pm Back in Classroom in Jesus de Otoro - With the usual excellent attendance of our student/farmers, I made a recap of what we had learned through our field trips and lectures. And I presented some
pruning trials that I asked each farmer to do on a few vines in his vineyard. These trials will allow us to evaluate (in December) the plant response to each pruning technique and either customize a more
appropriate pruning technique or validate the current methods. Of course this is dependent on the level of cooperation at each vineyard. With Cynthia in charge and the demonstrated enthusiasm of the farmers,
I have little doubt in this regard.
Also I presented a cover crop trial for each vineyard to duplicate. I drew a map on the blackboard and discussed in detail what to plant
where and the different cover crop seeds I had brought with me and recommended other more local ones to use in addition. I am anxious to see the results upon my return. These nitrogen fixing cover crops have
the potential of reducing their reliance on purchased nitrogen fertilizers as well as building up the life cycles in their soils and reducing erosion.
I also reviewed the
methods of making compost and asked that each farm would make and manage a compost pile of local ag waste products that I could evaluate upon my return.
I discussed water
management and encouraged them to get familiar with their soil's water holding capacity and modify their irrigation practices accordingly.
Last but not least, I discussed
with them pesticide application safety. I queried the workers as to their methods of protection and clean up. I drew on the board and explained the need for worker protection and what was necessary. Cleaning
out their spray tanks in the river was discouraged. It was a great opportunity to engage in this discussion because both the farmers and their workers were in attendance.
Wednesday - Day Eleven
8am Classroom in Jesus de Otoro - Final session. I distributed individual portions of the various cover crop seeds to each farm who volunteered to cooperate in the cover crop field trials. We had open
discussion on whatever they desired. They asked me if I would put together a viticulture tour/class for them in California. Everyone wants to come to California and the workers said they probably would stay.
This great bunch of farmers put together a nice farewell lunch along the river for us. I would have to rate the success of this trip at 9.99 out of 10. However we have just
begun to explore the possibilities. My next visit will be a more critical evaluation based on my increased knowledge of tropical grape growing and the results of the different field trials.
Back in Tegucigalpa, I was met by my Partners of America host John Chater and his lovely family and shuffled to their comfortable abode. We discussed the project's phase one
just completed and the plans for phase two's follow up. The Chater's hospitality was a welcome beginning to my reentry back to life in America. Please don't get me wrong, but the disparity of life styles is
somewhat like the twilight zone.
Thursday/Friday - Day Twelve/Thirteen What was supposed to be a long one day return trip home turned into a long drawn out two day trip home due to a
mechanical failure with the jet in Tegucigalpa. I should have stayed the extra day for John's birthday party.
I'm busy as hell with my own vineyard and winery operation but
I'm very much looking forward to getting back to the Otoro Valley to follow up with Cynthia, Adam and the grape growers.
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