Chiquita highlights environmental projects to protect biodiversity

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Chiquita Brands says it is protecting biodiversity on the company’s farms through a variety of environmental projects.

In conjunction with the International Day of Forests on March 21, Chiquita said in a news release that there are a variety of initiatives the company has taken to protect the environment:

• Intelligent growing: On farms in Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala and Honduras, the company works hard to increase productivity while maintaining and improving biodiversity. Chiquita said in the release that the forests will no longer be cleared for agricultural expansion;
• Chiquita said it limits its production to areas that can support long-term cultivation. "If we cannot guarantee this, we’ll return the land to its natural state,” Chiquita said in the release. “We pioneered this approach and are now focused on helping forests flourish through reforestation, along with our plans to rejuvenate and re-engineer our farmland." The Rainforest Alliance closely monitors Chiquita’s work in that area, according to the release; 
• Chiquita uses product rotation and good agricultural practices like preventive defoliation (picking off leaves), pest checks, and pest traps, the release said;
• Precision agriculture, which carefully targets agro-chemicals to exactly where and when they’re really needed, also is employed by Chiquita;
• Chiquita has installed an industry-leading water-smart system called ‘dry de-handing’, which the release said has driven down our water usage at 23% of our packing stations so far. The technology is saving around 9.4 million liters of water per year at each station, to a total of 1.7 billion liters each year on average to date, the release said; and 
• Chiquita uses water recycling systems, micro-irrigation and ground cover to minimize water use. “Overall, where we’ve installed these systems, we’ve managed to cut water use by 80% and of course we’re looking to extend these great new techniques across our business,” Chiquita said in the release.

The Nogal reserve was founded in 2004 in the Sarapiqui region of Costa Rica and is a result of a collaboration between Chiquita and some select customers to promote conservation and protection of biodiversity.

“We donated 900 trees grown at the reserve to development associations and community organizations working on reforestation and protecting the environment,” the release said.

This winter, in partnership with the GIZ Farm to Table initiative, Chiquita installed several hidden cameras to track animal activity in the area and discovered that a wide variety of animals are thriving in the reserve.

Chiquita’s goal relative to reforestation and biodiversity include:

• To conserve biodiversity in the long term;
• To raise awareness in communities through environmental education; and 
• To promote participation of local communities.