Non-renewable and Renewable Resouces

There is a difference between renewable and non-renewable resouces. Non-renewable resources are ones that you can't control the amount that there is, like zinc in Nicaragua. Renewable resources are the ones that can make more, like plants in Nicaragua. Some of the posts later on will talk about crops. Crops aren't a resouce, the land is a resource, which makes the crops grow. Lobsters and shrimp in Nicaragua are resources because we don't them reproduce, they do it on their own.

Fishing and Forestry

Fishing has long been a source of food for the domestic market in Nicaragua. The rich fishing grounds of the Caribbean began to be exploited for export of shrimp and lobster only in the 1980’s. A 1987 loan by the IDB allowed the country to double the size of its fishing fleet to ninety boats.

Nicaragua has extensive forests, and despite the large-scale clearing for agricultural sue, about one-third of the land, or approximately 4 million hectares, was still forested in 1993. Most of the forests consist of the tropical rain forests of the Caribbean lowlands, where surface transportation is practically nonexistent. Hardwoods abound in this region, but the stands are mixed with other wood, making exploitation difficult. However, some logging of mahogany, cedar, rosewood, and logwood for dyes takes place. In addition, the large stands of pine in the northeast support logging and a small plywood industry.

Recycle

Nicaragua doesn't cut down lots of trees, but it is always good to recylce. Every time they recycle paper, they would be saving one of the trees that they cut down. Nicaragua has lots of tropical trees, so they don't cut down those. They would probably cut down cedar.

Crops

Large-scale coffee growing began in Nicaragua in the 1850’s. Coffee is a demanding crop, however, because coffee trees require several years to produce a harvest, and the entire production process requires a greater commitment of capital, labor, and land than do many other crops. Coffee also grows only in the rich volcanic soil found on mountainous terrain, making transportation of the crop to the market difficult. In 1992 more land was planted in coffee than in any other crop. The actual amount of land devoted to coffee varies somewhat form year to year, but averaged 210,000 hectares in the 1980’s. Production is centered in the northern part of the central highlands north and east of Esteli, and also in the hilly volcanic region around Jinotepe. Although production of coffee dropped somewhat in the late 1980’s, the 1989 crop was still 42,000 tons. Nicaragua’s poor transportation system and ecological concerns over the amount of land devoted to growing crops on volcanic slopes in the Pacific region limit further expansion of coffee cultivation. These limitations have led growers to explore planting other crops in undeveloped areas of the country.

Cotton

Cotton was Nicaragua’s second biggest export earner in the 1980’s. A latecomer to Nicaraguan agriculture, cotton became feasible as an export crop only in the 1950’s, when pesticides were developed the permitted high yields in tropical climates. Cotton soon became the crop of choice for large landowners along the central Pacific coast. A the amount of land under cultivation grew, however, erosion and pollution form the heavy use of pesticides became serious problems. Lack of credit for planting, a drop in world cotton prices, and competition from Chile discourages cotton production in the mid-1980’s. Production of cotton dropped significantly in the 1980’s, and the 1989 crop of 22,000 tons was less than a third of the produced in 1985.

Bananas

Bananas are becoming the major export earner in Nicaragua. Bananas were introduced to Nicaragua early in the colonial period. Initially, until a market for them appeared in the United States in the 1860’s, bananas, like other fruit, were destined mostly for local consumption.  Most banana production is in the Pacific lowlands, in a region extending north from Lago de Managua to the Golfo de Fonseca. In 1989, banana production amounted to 132,000 tons.

Other Crops

Although much of the lowland Nicaragua has a climate conducive to growing sugarcane, poor transportation has limited production to roughly the same area in northwest Nicaragua where bananas are grown. Like all other agricultural products, sugar production was severely hit by the United States trade embargo on Nicaraguan products form 1985 to 1990. Production of raw sugarcane stood at 2,300 tons in 1989. Tobacco and sesame are both produced for export. Beans, corn, rice, and sorghum continue to be widely grown and consumed domestically.