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4 years ago

ThePartnership no. 15

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  • Vegetable
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  • Zaden
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  • Enza
  • Varieties

Agropecuaria

Agropecuaria Montelibano successful with melons Agropecuaria Montelibano, the flagship of Grupo Agrolibano from Honduras, is a large melon producer. Annually they grow more than 3,000 ha of melons of different types. Since 2010, cultivation manager Oscar Molina has been working with Enza Zaden on a range that allows ‘Mike’s Melons’ to distinguish itself even further. In 1979, Miguel (Mike) Molina started farming melons for North America on 15 ha in the San Lorenzo Valley. In addition to business opportunities, the enthusiastic entrepreneur saw possibilities to create job opportunities and a more prosperous future in this poor region on the Pacific south coast of Honduras. Both these thoughts turned out to be correct. After four years of growing for an intermediary, Miguel took matters into his own hands and Agropecuaria Montelibano sent its first shipment of melons under its own brand ‘Mike’s Melons’. It was the start of a sometimes difficult, but steady growth process, that was supported by hard work, innovation and the desire to excel on all fronts. Growing for a global market Some 40 years after the start, Agropecuaria Montelibano is now one of the major melon producers in the world. The growing company measuring 3,000 ha, now being led by son Oscar Molina and his sister Alejandra, offers work to 500 permanent employees and a large number of seasonal employees in the peak times surrounding planting and harvesting. From December through to the end of May, millions of melons in six melon types – Fully Netted Cantaloupe and Italian Cantaloupe, Galia, Honeydew (White & Yellow) and Piel de Sapo – are shipped to buyers and consumers in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Agronomist Oscar Molina is the man ensuring that this cultivation runs smoothly. Respect for people and the natural environment are key to him. “We use as few pesticides as possible, recirculate a large portion of our irrigation water and the fertilizers in this water and we consciously invest in maintaining soil fertility,” he explains. “If you feed the soil in the right way, this results in a stronger and healthier crop, which means we can harvest melons of a better quality. Sustainable soil and water management are rightfully receiving more attention on a global scale. These are the preconditions to continuing to provide the expanding global population with sufficient, healthy and high-quality food.” An interesting detail is that the success of the melon cultivation depends partially on natural pollination by bees. Due to the enormous growing area and the need to have bees present on a permanent basis during the growing season, Agropecuaria Montelibano employs beekeepers to care for these hard-working insects. In addition to top-quality melons, this also provides large quantities of honey, which the company sells as a natural byproduct. Eight years of collaboration In 2010, Molina was approached by Enza Zaden, which had a number of interesting new varieties in its selection programme at the time. “We are always open to improvement and innovation,” says the cultivation manager. “We aim to achieve not only continuous improvement of our product range, but also to establish collaborations with suppliers and buyers that can strengthen our market position. I recognised this drive at Enza Zaden and this formed a good foundation for a partnership.” Konquista One of the main varieties that has been selected from the trials at the company, Konquista – a variety of the Italian Cantaloupe – really distinguished itself. “It is a strong, healthy plant that produces fruits of excellent quality,” according to Molina. “Konquista combines a reliable high production with beautiful, uniform fruits that contain a lot of sugar and aromatic compounds and also have a very long shelf life. Of course, this last aspect is essential when the product has a journey of three to four weeks to complete before it reaches a consumer’s table in Europe. In the past this often meant that you had to compromise on flavour, but that is not the case with Konquista. It is a really sweet flavour bomb. This was a major step forward in this regard. In order to distinguish ourselves from other producers in Latin America, we thought it best if we could cultivate this variety exclusively.” Once both parties established a mutual commitment, Molina has steadily expanded the acreage of Konquista to about 160 ha in 2018. “Next year this will probably be even bigger, because many customers are specifically demanding this variety.” Prolonged selection process Enza Zaden now also has several other varieties within this same crop that could bolster the range at Agropecuaria Montelibano. Kazta and Kapaz have been included in the trials of the company for several years and have now been promoted to the semicommercial stage. In both cases, this means that the Honduran melon producer is growing over 20 ha, so that several buyers can be introduced to this product. “We have also included varieties of other crop types by Enza Zaden, but these are still in the early assessment phase. We never rush into things and a variety needs to perform well several years in a row before we start growing it on a larger scale. Mike’s Melons and in particular our newer high-end label Mike’s Best Building for sustainable welfare Agropecuaria Montelibano is the oldest and largest part of Grupo Agrolibano, a family of successful companies built under the inspired leadership of Miguel Molina. The shrimp farm Industria Camaronera del Sur was founded in 1991. This now covers 157 ha of aquaculture, with two breeding cycles per year. This produces over 850 tonnes of shrimp, which are primarily sold in Asia and Europe. Ornamentales del Valle was established seven years later, which specialises in the cultivation of leatherleaf ferns. This ornamental company comprises 45 ha of shade rooms and exports a container full of ferns to Europe every week. Bosques Cuyamapa, the last offshoot - for the time being - was founded in 2003. In contrast to the sister companies, this sustainable forestry company is located in Catacamas in the eastern interior region, where the circumstances are ideal for the 197 ha teak plantation and 27 ha of other types of hardwood, such as Mahogany, Kaya, San Juan, Eucalyptus and Carreto. guarantee quality and we do not want to make any mistakes that could harm our image. Konquista has also completed this rigorous selection process.” Lots of travelling As the person ultimately responsible for cultivation, Molina spends a large part of the year at the company. Nevertheless, he likes to make time for mostly foreign visits to trade fairs, field trials, research institutes and seed companies. “You need to get out and about to find new varieties and developments. If you focus inward too much, you get left behind and that is exactly what we do not want.” The cultivation manager says that he greatly appreciates the support and commitment that he experiences from Enza Zaden. “The people are very willing to listen and share knowledge. As Key Account Manager, Miguel Salinas Torres is my first point of contact, but I also have personal contact with melon breeder Dominique Chambeyron and other employees all over the world. To me, this accessibility and commitment are typical of Enza Zaden. They really need to ensure that this stays this way, because the better a customer and supplier understand each other, the quicker and more effectively you can achieve improvements. I think this is what has made us big, each in our own way.” Harvesting Italian Cantaloupe melon Konquista, a variety that have Montelibano and Enza Zaden further grow together as partners in the future. What binds this agricultural family of companies is the ongoing care for people and their natural environment. Based on these principles, Group Agrolibano creates sustainable job opportunities, prosperity and development in areas where this is extremely welcome. In order to carry out this mission on a broader scale, all of the companies contribute 5% of their profits to the Fundacion Agrolibano. This non-profit organisation develops and funds concrete projects in healthcare, education and social development for local communities in the surrounding area. Partnership 12 | The Partnership The Partnership | 13

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