February 2009

The spirit of ASD: Francisco Peralta; ‘genio y figura’ (genius and personage’

It is quite possible that no one else can be as completely identified with the essence of ASD than Francisco (Chico) Peralta. His character, manners and commitment are images that are well fixed in the minds of most of ASD’s clients and associated with the spirit of the company: to be the best. This must be so, since Chico was there when ASD was born, surviving the company’s infancy and adolescence and after all those years, and now harvesting the sweets of the success of a fully mature company that is well-positioned in the oil palm seed market.

Chico’s interesting personality started to shape during his high school years at the ‘Conservatory Castella’ where his interest in different forms of art was instilled (as a matter of fact, Chico learned to play musical instruments like the saxophone and clarinet). When he was very young, Chico also showed a remarkable interest for all types of outdoor activities and joined his beloved ‘Troop No. 5’ of the Boy Scout movement. The source of his perseverance and discipline may lie in this decision and the inspiration of Mr. Chester Paterson, an outstanding entrepreneur who dedicated part of his life to promoting the ‘scout’ movement in Costa Rica as a means to help develop the personalities of youngsters. Now, in his eighties, Mr. Paterson is still mentally and physically active and is a source of inspiration for Chico.
Chico has practiced and done quite well in many outdoor activities including mountain biking, cross field walking, soccer, fishing and tennis, without forgetting his enthusiasm for tropical dances like ‘merengue’ and salsa. Of course, all this frenetic activity has generated a multitude of interesting stories that Chico will tell anybody with delight.

His first contact with the oil palm came in the year 1981 when he was hired by the United Fruit Co. (the initiators of the oil palm industry in Costa Rica and tropical America) for the Palm Research Program to work in the areas of soils and crop nutrition. Later, he worked directly in the oil palm plantations as the head of the agricultural engineering department for several years. It was during those years that Chico incubated the idea of what is probably his most important technical contribution to the oil palm industry in tropical America: the demonstration of the importance of soil physical characteristics on palm yield potential.

During those years, the oil palm was considered the ‘fly on the elephant’s butt’ (the large banana plantations along the Pacific littoral of Costa Rica were, of course, the elephant). However, that little fly grew and eventually replaced the whole banana culture in that entire area in 1982. ASD (still under UFC) was created in 1985, and Chico and Gerardo Alpizar were designated as technical advisors for dealing directly with the clients of the new company that separated from the commercial plantations.

During all these years, Chico has been both guide and relief for the hundreds of clients that have come to ASD in search of technical support in all areas, particularly soils and nutrition of the oil palm. After all, Chico knows the ‘a, b and c’ of the crop perfectly, and testimony to this is the success attained by the many growers that have followed his technical advice.

Chico was a key player during ASD’s struggle to open the oil palm market in Southeast Asia and African countries. He can not hide his satisfaction when he remembers the moment when the Indonesian market was finally open. This market is now the most important one in the world, since Indonesia now leads in area planted and amount of palm oil exports. Another great professional satisfaction was received recently during the last MPOB congress, when ASD’s stand was selected among the first five best of the show, and was publicly recognized that ASD owns and has profusely documented the existence of the compact character (palms with shorter stems and leaves that allow increased planting densities). The development of this material is considered an industry breakthrough, comparable to the use of knowledge on shell thickness heritability.

Chico firmly believes that ‘work makes you feel good,’ but when the time comes for his retirement, we all know that something of ASD’s very essence will leave with him. However, that time is not too near and we will have ‘Chico’ around for a while, fully allied with the principles and values that have made ASD an undisputed leader in the oil palm seed market.

The year 2008 has marked the consolidation of new technologies in ASD’ Seed Processing Unit and the time when ASD introduced new varieties into the marked to satisfy the specific needs of some of our clients. The well recognized ASD brand has been maintained to back the high quality of the seeds, but the company has changed its name to Compact Seeds and Clones to improve shipment processes and the service to our clients.

The global increase in oil consumption by a constantly expanding population and the possibility of producing biodiesel economically have fueled a real explosion in the development of new projects for planting extensive areas with oil palm or the expansion of some established projects. ASD has been in the middle of all this commotion of the seed market and wishes to share with all its clients its actual achievements and future plans to remain a source of quality planting materials and an innovator in the industry. Such is the objective of this newsletter, which we expect to publish regularly, in order to stay in close touch with our regular clients and those that we hope will become convinced that ASD offers the best oil palm planting materials in the market. Our compromise is to share our knowledge and technology to guarantee the success of all our customers.

An ASD’s symbol: Armando Sanchez

Many things can be said of Armando Sanchez: a silent, hardworking employee; a source of knowledge on all the details of the oil palm seed’s international market; a person satisfied with doing the right thing, unconcerned about the number of hours dedicated to his work or recognition of the effort he makes beyond what most are willing to do; the real engine behind ASD, and so on. All this, and possibly much more, describe Armando’s work during more than 40 years. Armando’s work has certainly been a key factor for ASD in backing one of its most appreciated strengths: the thrust in his deliveries, no matter the size or the geographical location.
Armando’s history with the company has been long and fruitful, starting when he was very young in 1968, when he started working for the United Fruit Co. (later the founder of ASD). This initial work was humble, but from there he climbed up the ladder of responsibility to his current position as a key member of the ASD team.

When his responsibility was to ensure the on-time loading of the ships with bananas going to USA and Europe, he learned that fixed working hours only existed for workers without real commitments to their jobs. He learned that long work days of up to 16 or more hours were necessary to guarantee that ships could meet established schedules. No doubt, those were difficult years but Armando still remembers them with nostalgia.
There is no doubt that both Armando and Francisco Peralta are true inspirations at ASD; sharing most of the essence of the company, and deeply committed to accomplishing its objectives--to remain a leader in this competitive business of producing and delivering new oil palm genetic materials around the globe.

Visits by our friends and clients

At its headquarters in San Jose and its experimental station in the southern Pacific region of the country, ASD is frequently visited by current and potential clients who want to see our operations and the performance of our varieties firsthand. The list of people who have honored us with their visits is very long indeed, with more than 60 groups representing different companies and state organizations of Asia, America and Africa.

Training courses for our clients

ASD has a long tradition organizing training courses on oil palm cultivation for its clients and interested palm growers. Such courses have been given mainly in Costa Rica and several other countries as well. The last training course for agronomy engineers and farm technicians was given in Costa Rica in July 2006, and we are now preparing the next one for July 2009. Details about this new course are shown in our web site:
(http://www.asd-cr.com/curso/index.htm)

Training courses were recently given in Venezuela (September 2008) and the Republic of the Congo (December 2008). The course in Venezuela was jointly organized with ANCUPALMA in the city of Carabobo. Gerardo Alpizar and Carlos Chinchilla of ASD were the instructors. ANCUPALMA organized the course logistics and twenty technicians from public and private sectors participated.

Another introductory course on oil palm husbandry was held in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, for private and governmental technicians. This activity was highly significant since it was the first to be organized in the country and it coincided with the arrival of the very first shipment of modern oil palm varieties to that country. ASD congratulates Pierre Angona for his pioneering efforts to estab1ish the oil palm as an alternative for generating jobs and economic opportunities for the Republic of the Congo.