Vickie Limbird, extn. Hogar del Nino is a grantee to the Winrock Technical Services for Small Producers Project. The hands-on practices experience exposes the farmers on all farm activities from land preparation through post harvest handling. Hogar del Nino learned that Winrock has supported model farms in northern Nicaragua and requested funding and technical expertise to develop a similar project in Chinandega. The plan was to introduce vegetable production into an area with a past history of cotton and grains.
Current production is sorghum, corn, and peanuts.
Hogar has demonstrated that vegetables can be produced and marketed nationally. The farm site is on the edge of Chinandega, a city of about 75,000 in population. The infrastructure is good. There is a limit in post harvest storage. No cold room facilities are available.