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Farm’s name and location:

The Santa Rosita farm is located in the community with the same name, belonging to the Gracias Lempira municipality, Department of Lempira. Throughout the farm’s extension, different altitudes can be found from 1382 meters over sea level to 1654 meters above sea level, with a total extension of 8.4 hectares at the foot of El Celaque mountain; in this farm several organically originated activities are carried out such as incorporating the coffee pulp, the decomposition of the dead and fallen leaves to be used by the family as a source of organic fertilizer in the coffee farm, also it is worth mentioning that in the Santa Rosita farm there can be seen a lot species of timber trees such as cedars, pine trees, pepeto, gamo, among others and some citrus fruits, peach trees, musaceaes, forming an agroforestry system. On the other hand, Santa Rosita farm becomes a favorable place for nature’s lovers, due to its location in one of the most beautiful and privileged places of western Honduras .
What is your farm’s history? Is your farm a family unit? How long has it belonged to your family? How many members make up your family? The Santa Rosita farm is a family property in which everyone is involved in different activities throughout the year, but during the harvest, temporary workers are hired generally from the community of Piraera Lempira. 40 years ago we started growing coffee of different varieties Caturra, Bourbón, Pacas and Maragogipe, being this last variety the one that has prevailed over time and the one that has won recognition and honor in the Cup of Excellence event, Don Evelio Flores, Bohonerges’s father, says that a personal friend gave him the Maragogipe seed, that maybe due to lack of interest gave it to him under the following terms “Evelio you are a curious person so plant this seed and see what results you get,” those were his textual words.
How many persons work in your farm, family members, permanent employees and temporary employees? Santa Rosita farm is managed by the Flores Family throughout the year, who are responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the farm; fertilization is done with the technical assistance of IHCAFE. Until it’s time for the harvest, workers are hired to pick the coffee cherries approximately 20 families benefit from this jobs and all those hired are from the same community, from the neighboring municipality of Piraera. What natural resources conservation practices do you follow in the farm? 1 – The coffee is grown under the shade of forest trees, besides planting in curves at level to minimize the erosion of the soil.
2 – There is waste water management treatment for the milling process so the water returns without pollution to the rivers.
3 –There is solid waste management treatment with the composting process.
4- The incorporation of the dead and fallen leaves to the soil.
5- Setting up live barriers.
What is the shade percentage and the varieties found in your farm? The farm is all under the shade and under its regulation approximately 70% using timber and fruit trees, guama, pine trees, liquidambar, citrus and musaceaes.
What type of fertilization process do you use in your farm? Since the beginning of the farm, we have worked with the formulas distributed by IHCAFE getting very good results in production as well as quality.
What type of management do you use in your farm (traditional, semi-technical, technical)?The management of the farm is semi-technical, with little use of chemical supplies. Are you part of an association or cooperative? No. What is the secret for winning this competition (describe the preparation process of the competing lot)?1 – The geographical location of my farm.
2 – Good planting, harvesting and milling practices. 3 – The cherry picking method. 4 - The variety selected for the competition. How does it feel to be a winner of the Cup of Excellence? I really feel it is a great honor for a coffee grower like me to have reached first place in the event organized by the people from IHCAFE and Cup of Excellence. I think this prize is the result of great effort and hard work that my family and I have made in all this time that we have growing coffee. Who prepares your coffee for exportation? (Explain how you sell it and to whom)The coffee is prepared by our own hands until it becomes parchment coffee and as the years have gone by, we placed it on the market through Beneficio Santa Rosa, located in Santa Rosa de Copan.
What is your opinion of the Cup of Excellence? I think this is the type of events support the producers, since we are the ones who negotiate directly with the international buyers.
What has been your experience in the Cup of Excellence? Last year I participated in the event and took the 33rd place and this year I competed again and won first place, the experience has been without a doubt very beneficial for me and my family since it has given us the opportunity to promote our product.