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Joe and Luis Roman

Joe and Luis, Ecuador

Hola, my name is Joe and together with my father we grow delicious Ataulfo mango’s here in the Zaruma region in Ecuador.

My father, Don Luis Roman was born in this mango region and never thought that his roots would dictate his future. My father has a lot of memories from his childhood. As a child his parents put him to bed quite early, and when the room was dark and silent, he and his siblings could hear ripe mangoes falling from the trees. Whoever was the first to hear a mango fall to the ground would exclaim: “That one’s mine! I heard it first!” So, theoretically, the first one to hear this sound would become the owner, but obviously in practice it was the first person to wake up in the morning and go pick the fruit up who would eat it in the end.

In 1993 he got his first mango farm but he still remembered his childhood years when he was eating the most delicious mangoes from his yard without any sort of pesticides and chemicals and this was the passion that made him convert his plantations in 2000 to organic .

Interview met Joe Roman

What is the local attitude to mango’s ?
Joe: The town of Zaruma is filled with endless varieties of mango trees, each with its own name. So eating mangoes is, and has always been, not only a tradition of the local population but also part of their lifestyle.

What motivated your father to go into the mango business ?
Joe: Actually it was a local news item he saw when he was visiting Miami. There was a segment about a Cuban farmer who had a small mango farm. The farmer spoke about how happy he was because he could devote himself to caring for all his trees. He enjoyed taking care of each and every tree from the moment he planted them and as they grew. His daily tasks with the trees included watering them, pruning them and watching them blossom and bear fruit, until harvest time came. In the other words, several months would pass by, during which he was able to witness the whole process.

What do you love most about your job?
Joe: It’s a beautiful feeling to devote yourself to this activity from the moment the tree is planted until someone in another part of the world buys and eats one of your mangoes.

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soil

As an organic farmer we are not allowed to use artificial fertilizers. Therefore, we feed the soil and not the tree and work for example with goat manure which we source locally. We see the manure as a way to improve the soil and not just to add nutrients. Over the years it has proved to work very well. Furthermore all the pruned material from the trees is incorporated into the ground and allowed to decompose.

biodiversity

Organic farming means farming in cooperation with nature. It has been proved that the Biodiversity on organic farms is much larger.

One of the main challenges is controlling the weeds around the mango trees. Our method for controlling weed growth is using a cross-cutter connected to the back of the tractor. We have been doing this from the outset. We have never used herbicides, even when we were conventional farmers. To prune the treetops we use a piece of equipment called a string trimmer, so that when the weeds and grass are cut they become incorporated into the ground again where they decompose.

society

Having exported mangos for more than 16 years, our working relationship with our employees has come to be more like the relationship between family members.
The employee who has worked for us the longest is the technician responsible for cultivation. He has been with us for ten years, but the most important detail is the following. He used to work full-time for us, but five years ago it was decided that he should limit his technical visits to our plantation to twice a week. In that way, he would be able to find some additional source of income and would not feel tied to his job. This opened the door for him to develop other activities, which he eventually did. He now earns more than before.

I don’t like the idea of employees staying with us for their entire lives. In a way that keeps them from growing. I believe that it should be the intention for them to go and try to take advantage of some other opportunity in their lives. On the other hand, as employers we end up being like a mother and father for all our workers. We are the ones they turn to when they need something, whatever that may be. We are the ones who are always fulfilling their needs and providing support. I feel that this is our obligation.
Agriculture is a very hard line of work, and our workers are the ones who bear its physical demands on a daily basis. They give their all to do a good job for their boss. And this effort is something we recognize every day.

There is no bureaucracy on our plantation. We run a family business, and that is also how it feels for our workers. It is not difficult to discuss something with the owner. It’s a simple matter of asking for a few minutes to talk, and that’s it.

All of our permanent employees are men and benefit from enrolment in social security. That’s the law, and they enjoy all the benefits that this law provides for. Our temporary workers are women. They are the ones in charge of doing all the post-harvest work and the packaging, since they have that special feminine touch needed for handling the fruit with care.
There is a separate safety and health manual for permanent and temporary employees. Any emergency that arises is handled according the manual, and we find a solution.

For 18 years, our business has constituted the largest creator of employment in the region. We have also been the best place to work. Our activity as a large-scale plantation is unique in the region where we are located. Other economic activity in the region consists of short-cycle activities and farms with only one or two hectares. Once they are enrolled in social security, permanent employees enjoy guaranteed access to all their rights. So, if they get sick they take sick leave and receive treatment at Ecuadorian state hospitals. Permanent employees are entitled by law to 15 days of paid holidays.

climate

Our mango’s are grown without chemical fertilizes or pesticides and so in that regard we save energy. We do use energy for the tractor, the packing and storage and of course transport to Europe.

water

You don’t have to be an expert in organic farming to realize that water is absolutely essential when it comes to cultivating crops. Climate change, droughts, pollution etc. are threatening this vital resource and the future does not look all that good.

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