Ecuador: Sugarcane farmers migrate from sweet to spicy

Three years ago, in the face of economic losses due to the low price of a ton of sugarcane, 40 cane growers who belong to the Association of Self-Employed Workers, in Marcelino Maridueña (Guayas), decided to migrate to other types of crops. They started testing with corn, pitahaya, cassava, beans and now the white has been put in the Tabasco chili. This last product has replaced 20 hectares of land where, until last year, there was sugar cane. It is planted on association land, in a sector known as Palo de Balza, 10 kilometers from the cantonal head of Marcelino Maridueña, where crops that do not exceed half a meter in height now reign. Around 150 people work there, 90% of them are women like Blanca Rodríguez, 32 years old. She says that using the hectare and a half she has, she entered the world of sugarcane ten years ago, as it is a stable crop with good levels of profitability, a promise that has faded over time and has been a reason to migrate to chili. The price freeze that ...