Coffee production in Nicaragua

Coffee farm in the highlands of Quilalí.

Coffee production in Nicaragua has been an important part of its history and economy. It is one of the country's principal products. The areas most suitable for the cultivation of coffee have been Managua Department, Diriamba, San Marcos, Jinotepe, as well as the vicinity of Granada Department, Lake Nicaragua, Chontales Department, and in Nueva Segovia; historically, the best coffee is produced in Matagalpa and in Jinotega. Most of the coffee was grown in Managua Department, but Matagalpa Department produced the best bean quality. The best altitude to grow coffee is 800 meters above the sea level.^[1]

History

19th century

The crop of 1891 amounted to more than 11,000,000 pounds; 76,000 acres of land were used, and each acre produced 1,102 pounds. The principal means of transporting coffee for exportation were the National Railroad from Granada to Corinto, on the Pacific, and the steamships from Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River to the Atlantic Ocean. The Government of Nicaragua encouraged the establishment of coffee plantations, and decreed to award a prize of 5 cents for each tree in plantations of more than 5,000 trees. The majority of the Nicaraguan coffee was exported to Europe, because the freight to the United States was more expensive, and because in Europe it sold at a higher price. The United States consul stated that the coffee crop of Nicaragua amounted in 1900 to 150,000 bags, versus 75,000 in the preceding year; the coffee export duties amounted to approximately $300,000. The exportation of coffee in 1900 through the ports of El Castillo, Bluefields, and San Juan del Norte was 1,464,351 kilograms, the value of which amounted to $295,348. ^[1]

References

• This article includes text incorporated from Pan American Union's "Coffee: extensive information and statistics" (1902), a publication now in the public domain.

1. ^ ^{a b} Pan American Union (1902). Coffee: extensive information and statistics (Public domain ed.). Govt. Print. Off.. pp. 22–. http://books.google.com/books?id=yvYaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA22. Retrieved 16 November 2011.