Agrokasa, Ica, Peru

After time spent with the villagers, our class went along our way to meet one of the world's largest asparagus growers in Ica, Peru at one of his farms. Our bus met Pepe Chlimper, who also was previously the Agriculture Minister in Peru about 10 years ago and he served as our tour guide. We also met Tony & Gisela- my contacts down here that helped make the village project and this tour possible.

First when our bus arrived, I went off the bus to meet Pepe, Tony and Gisela and greet them. Pepe first off said, "OK, level with me. I'm going bumper to bumper with California asparagus and avocado growers- who is on that bus?" From the bat he wanted the straight deal. We told him that he should not worry, we don't have any competitors here, we are here just to learn. He relaxed, and said, "OK... I know how to proceed."

We first toured a smaller ranch of his, and looked at his biological control program. He hatched various insects to use an integrated pest management strategy to help decrease the amount of bug pressure in his fields so he only uses minimal pesticides. Pepe explained how he started out in the industry in the early 90's, and how he has grown to the size he is today. He essentially bought some desert land and completely transformed it to the productive farm it is today.

We next went to another ranch, this one that produces table grapes, asparagus and avocados. We drove around the endless miles of asparagus fields, hearing Pepe talk about how he's turned into the largest grower today, which retail markets he targets and how he feels his biggest competitor is broccoli, not other asparagus growers. We had a falcon hunt exhibition, as he has a large amount of bird pressure in his vineyards and uses Peregrine Falcons to keep the other birds out.

We looked at vineyards, his irrigation system, and all of his packing sheds. He wasn't harvesting on this ranch at the time so it was rather empty. They only take three weeks off from harvest on this ranch, so he said our timing was perfect.

We soon left the company of one of Peru's richest men and headed back to Lima. What a contrast we've seen this day- the poorest of villages in the foothills of the Andes to one of the more affluent Peruvians around. Our class had some very lively discussions on the trip back to Lima. We were running behind schedule, but that seems to be par for the course on this trip.