| Abstrakt: |
The article discusses the problems faced by Coffee producers in Costa Rica in handling the seasonal demand of labor supply. Coffee production requires large numbers of laborers for a few months of the year during the harvest season, but for the remainder of the year only a small skeleton crew is needed to cultivate the coffee. The colono system was introduced in the year 1915 . The colono is a person who: contracts with the landowner to care for and harvest, under the supervision of an employee of the landowner, a lot of coffee for a fixed price per "fanega" of coffee produced. At the end of the harvest, the "colono" is paid any difference due him after the total of weekly advances he has received is deducted from the value of the crop at the contract rate. The farm administration has undertaken to organize the colonos into neighborhood work crews to carry out the more crucial tasks on their lots under the surveillance of a foreman. The article points out that other large hacienda owners have looked upon this colono experiment as "socialistic" or even "communistic," it seems likely that the plan actually serves to increase the interdependence of the colono and the hacienda administration. |
