Production soon dropped below levels required to satisfy even domestic demands. In the early 1990s, however, the sale of gourmet coffees in the US, Europe, Israel and Japan began to increase significantly. Given the ideal climate of the western and central uplands, this region is now once again, famous for producing some of the highest quality coffee beans in the world. Another important development in Puerto Rican agriculture has been the introduction of high technology vegetable production in the south coast. This is a region of flat, highly fertile mollisols east of Ponce.
Irrigation is required for crop production, but high quality ground water is abundant.
Vegetable and fruit production predominate on a mixture of corporate and small farms. This region has become important for supplying tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and onions for the winter export market, as well as for domestic consumption. Pineapples are grown in the oxisols of the north central coast near Manati. The varieties 'Red Spanish' and 'Smooth Cayenne' are used for both juice and fresh market respectively. Citrus is grown predominantly in the uplands and used mostly for juices.