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Vanilla has grown wild in the shade of Toledo’s rainforest since time immemorial and was harvested by the ancient Mayans. Today, however, most of the world’s commercial vanilla is grown half way around the world in Madagascar. After a thousand year hiatus, an interest in vanilla cultivation is once again emerging in Toledo District.
MMRF is spearheading this interest in vanilla cultivation. Funding was recently
received from Belize Rural Development Project (BRDP) for a pilot project, wherein we coordinate and work with a group of area farmers. Each member is developing a small model vanilla plantations in their home community. The farmers have recently formed the Organic Vanilla Association (OVA)
Vanilla is an ideal crop for Toledo. It fetches a higher price than any crop grown here.
Vanilla is an intensively managed plant, so a farmer doesn't need access to much land to make money with it. In fact, worldwide, most vanilla is grown by farmers who work less than 2 hectares. It’s also an ideal crop for women because it doesn’t require heavy manual labor or a big plantation far from the house, just ordinary horticultural skills and the patience to hand-pollinate each flower.
Because vanilla is a shade-loving high bush plant, it is easily integrated into an agroforestry system, such as a cacao plantation. Agroforestry systems mimic the structure of the primary rainforest and support biodiversity while providing ecological services such as water and soil retention, air purification and wildlife habitat. Choosing high value components to integrate into an agroforestry system can make this type of farming very economically rewarding.
Vanilla (
orchid, which begins to bear in 3 or 4 years. It is grown from cuttings. Its flowers, which last only one day, must be hand-pollinated. A vanilla vine must grow for at least 3 years before its first flowers. After pollination, a vanilla bean stays on the vine for around 9 months. When it is picked, it still is not ready for consumption, but rather must undergo a lengthy and precise curing process to reach its full market value and signature scent, a process which takes several months.
As of today, no infrastructure exists in Belize to cure or process vanilla, but these things can develop, and in the meantime vanilla lends itself well to cottage industries.
Maya Mountain Research Farm has been cultivating vanilla for the last 2 years, and have 250 vines on which they are keeping exact horticultural and growth records. In the next year we will be producing a
MAYA MOUNTAIN
RESEARCH FARM
San Pedro Columbia
P.O. Box 153
Punta Gorda
Belize, C.A.
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