This year, a total of 103,833 tonnes of Peruvian organic bananas are expected to be exported; approximately 16.7% less than in 2013, when the volume shipped reached 124,600 tonnes, as reported by the president of the National Banana Association (JNB), Valentín Ruiz Delgado.
"Peru is currently exporting 100 containers of organic bananas per week, while last year it was shipping 120. Each container has a capacity for 1,080 boxes, with each box weighing 18.14 kilos. JNB's associates represent 80% of the country's production," he stated.
Ruiz Delgado explained that this drop is due to the presence of pests and diseases, such as red rust thrips and boisduval scales, which despite being under control have had an impact on the production. Another reason would be the water shortages in the north of the country, where the main organic banana growing areas are located.
The arrival of "El Niño"
The president of the JNB also addressed the issue of "El Niño", which according to experts will affect the Peruvian coast this year. The event is expected to cause damages to roads and irrigation channels and to affect agricultural producers directly.
"Given this situation, the associations that form part of the JNB are concerned about improving the access roads to their production areas so that by the time the phenomenon starts, the products can continue to be harvested and transported," he asserted.
Precautions are also being taken to protect the irrigation channels. In this sense, a meeting will be held on 9 April to listen to proposals on how to desilt the Poechos dam, which currently has around 400 million cubic metres of sediments, which prevents the storage of much larger volumes of water.
Permission has also been requested for the construction of tube wells that would allow growers to store irrigation water and prevent shortages in case of drought.
Source: Agraria.pe