Handbook of Vanilla Science and Technology

Ocampo wrote. There is not much information about the first plants of vanilla and where they came from. There was one vanilla hectare planted in Upala, Alajuela, and one more hectare planted in Aguirre, Puntarenas, in 1986. The vanilla hectare planted in Upala was owned by a foreigner who had to travel to Europe before the vanilla harvest. He took some vanilla beans from his plantation from previous harvests to Europe. The beans were liked so much, that he returned, planning to cultivate more vanilla plants. When he came back, however, the vanilla plantation was damaged and he could not continue the vanilla cultivation.

3.2.1 The first phase of large-scale cultivation in Costa Rica

Based on the high vanilla bean prices in the 1990s, and in an effort to develop a better standard of living for rural communities and to preserve buffering zones around the biological reserves and national parks, national and international institutions came together to support vanilla cultivation in Quepos and Puerto Jimenez. Both towns are located in the southern part of Costa Rica. The Biological Reserves of El Nara and Los Santos in Puntarenas were selected to develop this project. A group of farmers that have sustainable agriculture crops, such as beans and corn, came together and planted Vanilla planifolia in the boundary zones of the biological reserves. These farmers were the pioneers in the cultivation of vanilla. However, the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporium f sp. vanillae infected the vanilla plantations in 1993 (Ramirez et al. 1999). As a result, most of the vanilla plantations disappeared.

In 1995, the University of Costa Rica, together with the Agriculture Department in Quepos and the foundation Holland-Costa Rica (FundeCooperacion), initiated a project on the organic development of vanilla cultivation. This was the first step in the development and research of vanilla cultivation in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, on July 30, 1996, Costa Rica sustained huge losses from hurricane Cesar, with 24 persons dead, 6 people missing, 2,875 evacuated, almost 22.83 million dollars of losses in road infrastructure, 7.3 million dollars in hospital installations, 16 bridges in bad condition, 7 drinking water installations affected, and 5 electricity systems suspended (Zuniga 1996). The direct loss to the agriculture sector was about 1.16 million dollars, nearly 1.2% of the annual production, with about 354 hectares of crops affected. The most affected areas were Quepos, Parrita, and Puerto Jimenez, where 99% of the vanilla plantations were damaged (Marin-González 2003). According to the Agriculture Department, almost 33 hectares had been planted with V. planifolia in Aguirre, Parrita, Puerto Jimenez, and Garabito (Guzman-Diaz 1997).

3.2.2 The second phase of vanilla cultivation in Costa Rica

The Agricultural Microbiology Laboratory of the Agricultural Investigation Center (CIA) at the University of Costa Rica, along with the support of the Interamerican Bank for Development (BID), the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio), and the private support of the La Gavilana Company, initiated a project to restore the vanilla plantations in Quepos. They found some beneficial micro-organisms, which improve the resistance of the plant to Fusarium. The University of Costa Rica produced bio-fertilizer products for use not only in vanilla plants but also in some other crops in the country (Marin-González 2003). A few of the farmers in the region have small organic vanilla plantations, for which the most important product is tourism and the second product is the sale of the vanilla beans. As an example of good agricultural practice, the Villa Vanilla spice farm owned by Henry Karczynski, a pioneer of vanilla cultivation in Costa Rica, has the first Demeter® certified biodynamic vanilla farm. This is a sustainable system where the vanilla beans are grown using traditional organic farming. Villa Vanilla gives tours, and conferences and vanilla beans are sold to the public.

3.2.3 The third phase

By the year 2000, the vanilla bean price was increasing in the international market, which attracted foreign investors to create large-scale vanilla production companies. The private industry production began with traditional vanilla plantations supported by live tutors, such as a Melina tree (Gmelina arborea), Gliricidia sepium, and Erytrina spp. Soon, these companies would face the same problems as encountered before, disease infection, lack of water, and lack of shade in summer since the tutors were deciduous trees, which drop all the mature leaves in the dry season. But, this time, there was sufficient financial support to apply technological solutions to the process of production.