Development through passionfruit
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Authors
Gabriel Reaño
Issue Date
25/08/2017
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Agriculture , Economic Development
Alternative Title
Abstract
Yolanda Morales is 54 but it does not seem it. She has tanned skin from too much work in the field and she is already a proud grandmother, but her agility and vitality seems like that of someone much younger. She wears a cap to counteract the strong rays of the summer sun and regrets with much insinuation not having taken insect repellent: “the mosquitos have already had 3 days’ worth of lunch”. Really, the mosquitos are part of the landscape in Vilcahuaura, together with big pine trees that surround the trail road that goes to arrive at the bus station in Huacho, and the farmers that loom in the distance., and the field owned by the woman Yolanda. She has lived in Huara all her life and remembers Vilcahuara since she was a climber of the family of Perez Gallo. “I was a little girl when this was the boss’s.” she tell us, “this was his house”, she says while signalling to a ground style virrenal of the same style. “Now only one member of the family of Perez Gallo lives there, and has been well neglected. Yolanda Morales claims to have gone to school which was moving up, and remembers it with horses and fields in which they played with the family of Perez Gallo who were their contemporaries who came during the holidays. And she dropped the phrase that is a signature of anyone who remembers the land reform: “they gave us everything but didn’t teach us how to take advantage of it”. For this reason, today in VIlahuara there are many forgotten or badly exploited agricultural land. For this reason, her and her instinct stand out more. That instinct has led her to innovate.” Here we have always harvested more than anyone sugar cane and cotton, but one day it occurred to me that maybe we could work with other products and then, passion fruit occurred to me. And the passion fruit led to Practical Action.” Yolanda Morales has 3 children: a son who is 35 and two daughters, 31 and 27. Since young, it instilled in them the instinct of overcoming what has led her to not be “one of the bunch” in Vilcahuara. The mayor is a renowned business administrator who works in Lima enjoying the modernity of the recent times. She remembered him when she got the idea of cultivating passion fruit. “We planted this little orchard”, Yolanda told us, showing a space that covers 100 metres, tell us, it is as an extension of her large farming land. “Here it occurred to me that we could do something distinct and a friend of my husband one day came with passion fruit juice that lots of the boys who worked here like, and so that is where I got the idea from.” But Yolanda Morales did not have any idea how to cultivate passion fruit in the best way. So shoe asked her son to find out from a contact in Lima. He did what any citizen had done today if you require a fact: went to the internet. Here he came across the Technical Consultants of Practical Action and he approached them and asked for information. “My son contacted the woman Giannina Solari and she gave advice almost instantly”. Thanks to the service offered, they received data that led them to think about what type of wire to use for the field and the type of insecticide required to eliminate parasites, through the use of pollen and the adaptation of crop plants. The son of Yolanda went beyond the passion fruit and also asked about the planting of avocado, fruit that he had worked with before but with little success, and granadilla, a plan for the future. The fruits started rapidly. The avocado has positioned itself in a good way in Yolanda’s field and was already growing without difficulty. And the first layer of passionfruit that was key, had begun positively also. “From this test, I calculate that by the end of June, we will already have an important harvest to be able to market the passionfruit. The passionfruit is in the process”. The blessing of this first test has not yet appeared, but Yolanda has faith. When the land reform appeared in Peru, Vichahuara was one of the most affected areas. The Perez Gallo lost their ascent and the impressing farming field that there was was shared between diverse families. To Yolanda Morales, for being an only child, the space inherited was assigned to her parents, and they decided it would not be abandoned or wasted like many of the other countrymen. Little by little it was put together into a decent farming area and although it had always had to deal with the abuse of traders and their low purchase prices, she managed to get ahead. The owners of the property next to Yolanda’s already started showing interest in the passionfruit. The type of the fruit that grows on the instalment of Yolanda’s is called “Brazilian Passionfruit” and calls attention for its huge size. “Everyone comes to ask about this passionfruit, about the planting techniques and the time it takes to ripen. Little by little they will imitate it and this fruit will be growing much more here”, says Yolanda. She also adds that for her, the true value of having reached the service of the Technical Consultants at Practical Action lies precisely on that, on the way in which the information has not only helped her, but also others. She says that with the conviction of 40 years, the agragarian reform and its intentions to raise the peasant has become a reality and not just a badly managed dream. “The idea is that all benefit from this development” conclude Yolanda, while posing for a photo with her passionfruit.