La tierra que nos sustenta

The furrows for development
El Salvador is one of the few countries in Latin America that cemented
its republic in agriculture for more than 150 years. Coffee and sugar
cane, introduced during the Republic, are the pillars of this agricultural
development and its industrial development. Its producers have had the
ability to adapt to global economic and technological transformations
to sustain their production and continue over time as pillars of national
development. In recent years, both agroindustries have sought for more
environmentally friendly production methods
Subsistence crops or basic grains appear in our landscape in all scenarios,
from family planting to large fields and are the basis of the national diet.
Throughout the country, the National Center for Agricultural Technology
(CENTA) has collected in its germplasm bank more than 500 accessions
or samples of beans, corn and maicillo or sorgo criollo, which vary in
morphology, colors, time of cultivation and flavor, which sustains
the richness and diversity in the national soil.However, for popular
consumption only one variable of each crop is chosen. This is where
our natural and cultural wealth is at risk of limiting nutrition, making
the basic Salvadorean diet monotonous.The reduction of the variety of
crops obeys to economic reasons of production or climatological ones.
However, the germ plasm bank keeps seeds and herbs with projection
for food sustainability.Research indicates that native -or indigenouscrops
are better resistant to water stress and climate change.
In a country like ours, Nature, can not be considered only from the
contemplative landscape and the amazement of exuberance. It must
be approached from science, agricultural innovation and by using
new cultivation techniques for the future. Current experience confirms
that Salvadorean agriculture seeks the path towards environmental
sustainability through various alternatives: from the production of clean
technologies to the diversification of crops in the same area to nourish
the soil.
Every year, around 13 thousand hectares of forest disappear in the
country, so the coffee forest is becoming one of the most important
spaces for the conservation of groundwater. The land destined to certain
types of cultivation are spaces of natural refuge. The future progress
of the industry depends on achieving an adequate balance between
development and conservation.
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