The farm is located at about 30 km from Comandante Andresito town, with a long dirt road, the river, and Iguazú National Park just a short distance away. The rainforest surrounds everything in the Peninsula and it is a key factor in the development of the product that Myrna offers to the world: Jejy’a. This superfruit has been available since immemorial times but it is only now harvested sustainably. It comes from  the fruit of the palmito plant (Euterpe edulis), a treasure hidden in the rainforest of Misiones. However, just a few years ago, eating palmito was a synonym for cutting down trees, and Myrna decided that she was not going to cut down endangered trees, instead, she was going to use the fruits in a jam factory that she had set up in the middle of the farm. 

“We produce artisanal products such as jams, syrups and native fruit pulps; but when native fruits are not available, we use cultivated fruits instead. Additionally, we are reforesting with native fruit trees to improve our production”, explains Myrna Elizabeth Korniejczuk to Economis. Myrna is the head of Sabores de la Selva (Flavors from the Forest), a family-run venture.      

“Jejy´a is a Guarani term that was chosen when the palmito pulp project was being developed to differentiate it from the açai in Brazil, which is a very similar fruit. They both belong to the palm tree family, but it is difficult for people to know the difference, it just takes time. Nevertheless, it is a Guarani term that means “pulp of the palmito fruit.” We produce it sustainably from the native rainforest while preserving the rainforest. That’s the core idea behind the entire venture: to protect what remains of our rainforest and encourage other people to do the same. For that reason, we joined Puente Verde, a preservation project that has a lot of  advantages. The program is very important because, some years ago, the surrounding area of my farm was rainforest, and it’s astonishing how easy it is to get permission for the slash-and-burn agricultural technique, clearing  20, 30 or even 50 hectares. I think that the municipality is making significant progress with the Green Corridor and offering tax exemptions as a means of preservation is a fantastic idea. But I think that this goes beyond the municipality. We are in the heart of the rainforest and work hard to preserve whatever is left. We are near the Falls, opposite to the Iguaçu National Park (Brazil), the Yacuy Park and the reserve. The goal is to preserve what little remains of the native rainforest,” explains the producer, who has spent her entire life in the area. 

Are you planting trees in your native rainforest farm?

Yes, we used to have  a two-and-a-half-hectare yerba maté plantation , but between 2021 and 2022 it was lost due to a severe drought in Andresito. So, my family and I talked about what we were going to do because we didn’t have any other income. We decided to set up this jam production factory and plant native fruits on the land where yerba maté had grown in the past. To make that happen , we had to sell one hectare of our farm, as we had no other source of income to sustain ourselves. Unfortunately, that was the part I didn’t like, but sometimes what is most costly it hurts the most, we sold it and with that money we could set up the production facility.

This is a laboratory, how did you set it up?

It was difficult to build. Andresito is 35 kilometers away and the roads are unpaved, so it was also challenging for the bricklayer to bring the necessary materials. However, I had contacts from my time working in the Agroecological Cooperative of Peninsula, contacts for registration of the products and the production facility. Maria Ojeda, a food safety specialist, helped me to set up the facility to be ready for approval. She came with the people in charge of registering the Jejy´a pulp and jam, first at local and then at provincial level. Now we are working on obtaining national registration for honey extraction and packaging.

Where are you selling now?

We are selling directly to private individuals from the area. People who are familiar with our plant and call and say “Can you bring me such and such product?” In Iguazú we are taking orders from hotels and restaurants. They are interested in the  native fruit pulp and specialized products we offer.

You stopped producing yerba maté and now you are planting native plants… Are you making a living from fruits today? 

Yes, the three of us, my husband, my daughter and I are living off the fruits and pulps. However, many fruit plants are still young because they are being replanted. Native fruits take three to four years to grow, the quickest to mature is pitanga (Eugenia uniflora), while the rest take between eight and ten years. So I have some plants, I have two or three little plants but I buy the rest of the produce from  neighbors. A large portion  of the native fruits that people request in Iguazú come from them, as my small      production is not enough and one of the requirements of the Puente Verde Program is that this initiative should help the local community.

The concept of a family venture is “literal”. Her husband is the one who collects the fruits from the trees without cutting them down, climbing up just as a child. This way, the trees aren’t damaged and an “abundant harvest” is achieved.

Nowadays you are generating an economic activity in the area …

Yes, this  is because  I buy fruits and pulp from people who have large plantations. Therefore, to avoid wasting all that fruit, we turn it into jam. 

For that reason, you were chosen as one of the businesswomen in the Economic Confederation…

The truth is that I didn’t expect that award, it was something really nice, because this is a family business, and everyone contributes in some way, not just my husband and I.       

Preserve and regenerate

We are planting a variety of fruit plants to boost our business, but it becomes challenging during the dry months of the year, especially with some creatures, such as monkeys. They affected us severely, as they ate the palmito from the native rainforest. They pounced in just one single area because there is so little rainforest left, which impacted negatively on all of us who are working to protect it. It was a pity, as there was no production that year. That means that this is the first year that we can produce, with a good yield of palmito pulp, which is the most affected plant in the rainforest. The life of an entrepreneur is not easy; we have to face things beyond our control because running a business here is very different.

You have to be passionate…

Yes, it is about striving for a better future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. I do this with a future vision in mind, when I’m no longer here, I hope my daughters will continue with this project, and continue preserving the native rainforest. I wish it to become a chain where all the knowledge is passed down from generation to generation, everything we have learned, and the most important thing: to love the native rainforest, to cherish what we still have of it with all its creatures and bugs. They may sometimes be challenging but they are all part of it. 

Juan Carlos Argüello

Journalist, director of Economis 

Traductor: Clarisa Benítez

Revisor: Luciana Sisterna

Revisión final: Norma Andrada

Tecnicatura Universitaria en Traducción e Interpretación en Inglés – UCAMI

Correo: c.extension@fch.ucami.edu.ar 

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