Patchouli production in Guatemala is a new crop developed ex-nhilo by NELIXIA to offer a sustainable alternative to the market.
Given the limited existing literature on patchouli and novelty in Guatemala, we set up an R&D protocol to learn how to work locally with this plant. Starting with a 70-year old acclimatized plant, we implemented a 50 ha plantation in order to develop a specific operating manual.
According to our vision and mission of empowerment of local communities, we then transferred the project to Guatemalan communities.
NELIXIA has imagined its own agricultural productions as a research center in order to develop real expertise that could be transmitted to local communities:
- Propagation: Nursery 1 ha – humidity tests, type of ground.
- Plantation dedicated to R&D – Test of shading, association, maintenance, type of cut…
- Drying: Structure on several floors – Tests of drying duration, fermentation …