When Maria Pimentel Villagra lost her job, she redirected all her efforts towards agriculture, together with her daughters Arelys, Aneliz, Alexandra and Yuraidis.
“Banana and plantain grow quite a lot in Bocas del Toro. There are times when the market price drops a lot. I've lost my job. We had to look for ways to stay afloat. That was when the platanito’s initiative was born.”
Maria Pimentel Villagra – Farmer and businesswoman.
They form a very particular "crew”. More than that, they are a family who supports the effort initiated by Maria. The family grows plantain, one of the main farm products that predominate in this Panamanian province and the whole Binational Sixaola River Basin, together with the banana. She started cultivating organic banana thanks to the support of the Proyecto Conectando Comunidades y Ecosistemas. She learned about healthy agricultural practices, such as bio inputs that are natural and organic products that benefit the crops and the soil. Her company Plantin Crush already sows positive results in the production.
“It may be complicated to be certified as organic. We don’t use pesticides, but maybe the neighbor does. We also have live barriers to block agrochemicals. Our organic plantain produces the expected range of 25 to 35 ‘fingers’. We apply mountain microorganisms as a bio input”,
Maria shows.
The company chose a healthier production despite the pressure and impact of the high use of agrochemicals in their surroundings in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro, Panama. They also diversified with new fruits and vegetables.
“The diversification has gone well! We’ve been working hard! The plants are growing well. My daughter sing to them”, she recollects with a smile.
In addition to banana, they grow corn and recently diversified with cassava, papaya, pitahaya, malanga, beans and others. The young women are integrated in different jobs to maintain the farm. Together they created Plantin Crush, a brand that offers products with added value to markets in Bocas del Toro in the Sixaola Basin. While the premium plantain is sold directly without processing.
Her daughters’ honest smiles reflect how they enjoy their role as farmers in the field. They have fallen in love with nature and agriculture.
“That is the importance of generational handovers. The day will come when I’m no longer present. My daughters understand everything that happens on the farm”, María highlights.
Alexandra Araya Pimentel, Maria’s daughter who is 19 years old, advocates for youth involvement in their parent's farms and to learn how to cultivate the land:
“Go ahead and support your mother and father, they will not always be around. They need your support to continue to work the fields and collect its fruits”.
Arelys, who is the youngest with 13, also shares her sister's mindset:
“Appreciate what you have! Having my mom working in agriculture is beautiful. I learn a lot, and other kids aren’t interested because they think, ‘Why do I have to work in a field?’. They do not understand that without agriculture, we have no food. They must value the producers”.
“If we are raised to love the field, we will work in it. Usually, young people take another path, but our production depends on nature and how we work in the field. Helping my mom motivates me, learning, and growing every day”, Alexandra adds.
María is an outstanding leader of the Sixaola Basin and she advocates for other women to strengthen their abilities and fall in love with new productive options.
“Women have a challenge, we fight to be listened to and to participate in the production and water management. We have achieved a lot already. I am proud to say that we are multipliers of the benefits that we generate and receive. We want to position Plantin Crush in the Bocas del Toro’s market, extend the brand and our facilities, and continue to produce organically”, Maria says.
Maria Pimentel Villagra is part of a group of producers of the project Towards the Transboundary Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) of the Sixaola River Basin. The Project accompanies producers of the Sixaola Basin to promote healthier practices and a reduction in pesticide use.
About the project
Towards the Transboundary Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) of the Sixaola River Basin shared by Costa Rica and Panama is a GEF project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OET) of Costa Rica.
Divulgated in communication actions as Proyecto Conectando Comunidades y Ecosistemas (traduced from Spanish as Connecting Communities and Ecosystems), it works with communities and institutions of Costa Rica and Panama to: Strengthen coordinated transboundary action; Set the conditions to achieve real water management; Restore river ecosystems; Reduce risks of disasters by flooding; and Collaborate in the reduction of the excessive agrochemicals use in banana and plantain crops.
For more information, please contact Manuel Sancho Gutiérrez, (manuel.sancho@tropicalstudies.org), visit the project page on iwlearn.net or the project page.
If you want to watch the video about the project please follow the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mys8h3BREG0
© 2026 IW:LEARN
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