Many people in Costa Rica's rural areas still use heavy, wood-burning stoves. But they're now becoming a luxury item for preparing meals on special occasions, as well as a collector's item for vintage decoration.
Flooding in the Caribbean has washed out fields of two of Costa Rica’s most important agricultural exports. Banana and pineapple producers are still trying to get a handle on the damage caused by heavy rains and flooding last week that cut off exporters from ports and damaged fields, business leaders told The Tico Times on Wednesday.
The fast food sandwich chain Subway found itself at the center of a quarrel over a ban on avocado imports in Costa Rica Thursday when the restaurant’s decision to temporarily stop offering avocado led to a stunt by Communication Minister Mauricio Herrera.
A type of Fusarium wilt appeared this year in Australia's main banana-growing state after spreading to Asia and Africa. While the fungus has been around since the 1990s and has yet to affect top exporter Ecuador, Fresh Del Monte Produce called it a potential "big nightmare." The United Nations says the disease threatens supply, and Latin American growers are taking steps to limit the risk.
Lourdes de Cirrà — more a collection of houses perched on the high road than town — is home to three winners of the Cup of Excellence, more than any other single growing area since it started in Costa Rica in 2007.
Prior to the project’s approval by the Legislative Assembly in February various professional and business groups warned that changes to the project would be needed and that those changes would inflate the price tag.
While coffee and other exports are enjoying a price boom, Costa Rica’s biggest agricultural exports, bananas and pineapple, are looking a little like a bust.
Medical devices now lead national exports and showed a considerable 49.5 percent growth in the first two months of 2015 compared to the same time period last year.
