2a El Conacaste, 91.29 - El Salvador 2021

Type of Soil: Sandy clay loam
Temperature / average: 24o C
Average rainfall: 2,181 mm
Type of shade: Ciprés (cupressus lusitánica)
Shade density: 30-40%
Flora and fauna on the farm: In terms of flora, the farm is made up of oocote pine plantations. (pinus oocarpa) and cypress (cupressus lusitánica) and another part by natural forest. Among the species found in the natural forest are: roble (quercus insignis), encino (quercus aata), laurel (cordia alliodora), guarumo (cecropia peltata), lion hand (dendropanax arboreus), cedar (cedrela odorata), pepeto (inga sp), among others.
As for the fauna, on the farm there are many wild species of mammals: gray squirrel (sciurus variegatoides), armadillos (dasypues novemcintus), cotuzas (dasyprocta punctata), raccoons (procyon lotor), rabbits (sylvilagus floridanus), cusucos (dasypusnovemcinctus), tacuazin (didelphys marupialis), skunks (conepatus mesoleucus), pezotes (nasua narica), white-tailed deers (odocoileus virginianus), tepezcuintles (cuniculus paca), as reptils: lively rattlesnake (crotalus ssp), coral (lampropeltis triangulum), frogs (bufo ssp), among others.
With regard to birds, the following can be observed: chiltotas (icterus chrysater), guacalchías (campylorhynchus rufinucha), talapos (eumomota superciliosa), hawk (accipiter striatus chionogaster), ash eale (harpyhalieatus solitarius), lislique (falco sparverius tropicalis), necklace pigeon (columba fasciata), hummingbird (hylocharis leucotis), red coa (trogon collaris), harlequin carpenter (melanerpes formicivorus), climber (certhia americana), anthill (grallaria guatimalensis), flycatcher (mitrephanes phaeocercus), chipe (dendroica graciae), among others.
Fertilization methods: Formula is applied 3 times in winter
Herbicide application: No
Environmental conservation practices:
The main conservation activity was the planting of pine and cypress trees in one hundred and fifty blocks that were pastures and that turned the farm into an important ecosystem to preserve the natural resources of the area. The natural areas that existed on the farm were preserved, protecting its biodiversity. It uses renewable energy based on solar panels and small hydraulic turbines.
Type of process: Natural Fermentación: -

CULTURAL INFORMATION

Owners description:

The owners are people aware of the preservation of the flora and fauna of the place, respecting the environment, being the first generation that is dedicated to the cultivation of coffee.
Emphasis has been placed on giving work to the inhabitants of the Majaditas Canton, located within the Montecristo National Park, in such a way that these people do not exert pressure on the natural resources of the Park.

History:

Finca El Conacaste was acquired in 1996, at the initiative of Messrs. Piero Rusconi Gutiérrez, Carmen Elena Bolaños de Rusconi, Mario Cristiani Goodall, and María Eugenia Choussy de Cristiani, through the company CHOUCRI, S.A. de CV, and is located in the Cantón el Limo de Montecristo, jurisdiction of Metapán, department of Santa Ana, belonging to the Alotepec-Metapán mountain range, within the geographical context of the area known as Trifinio, adjacent to the Montecristo National Park by the Heading west, whose latitude coordinates are 14º 23´27´´ to 14º 24´26´´, most of them being in the life zone called Subtropical Humid Forest.
Its approximate extension is 300 blocks and ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 meters above sea level, with an annual rainfall of 2,181 mm. The precipitations are clearly differentiated in a dry season from November to April where the lowest temperatures are recorded, between 6º C and 18º C.
From the beginning, it was envisaged to implement on the farm a conservation project of all the natural areas composed of Mixed Forest (Pine-Oak) and of forest exploitation, having reforested the areas where there was no forest, with the Cypress species (Cupressus lusitánica) and oocote pine (Pinus oocarpa), improving the performance of the hydrographic basin, protecting the soil from erosion and with the projection of obtaining wood for industrial purposes.
As a result of this reforestation effort, a very important ecosystem was formed for the water network and its infiltration capacity in the subsoil, reducing direct sunlight and therefore evapotranspiration, promoting a humid environment and as a natural extension of the Cloud Forest by Montecristo.
In 2014, a friend and connoisseur of the coffee industry, seeing the excellent conditions we had and the microclimate created, urged us to enter the specialty coffee market, to sell in micro lots differentiated by varieties and heights. We then proceeded to sow 1,000 plants of the Pacamara variety under the shade of cypress at 1,600 meters above sea level as a pilot test and in this way evaluate the development of the plant under these conditions. After observing an excellent development of the crop, the following year (2015) we proceeded to sow approx. 3.5 mz with the Pacamara variety and approx. 0.5 mz with the El Carmen variety. In 2016, the plan to enter the specialty coffee market continued and we proceeded to plant approx. 5 mz with the Pacamara variety, 5 mz with the Gesha variety, 3 mz with the Borbón Amarillo variety and 2 mz with the Pache Colí variety. Then in 2018, 3 mz were sown with the Kenya variety, in 2019 2 mz were sown with the Pacamara variety and finally in 2020 3.5 mz were sown with the Java variety. Our goal is to manage 60 mz with exotic varieties.

First time participating in COE
IG: @incaelconacaste