The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI) estimated this week that Peruvian agricultural exports will exceed 5,100 million dollars in 2014 driven by the higher exports of non-traditional products such as grapes, fresh avocado, quinoa and others.
The head of Minagri, Juan Manuel Benites, appeared before the Land Commission in Congress and predicted that Peruvian agricultural exports would amount to 6,000 million dollars in 2015 and to 7,030 million in 2017.
"This will be the result of the increased demand for food in the world market, improved prices and a rise in production," he said.
Benites said that in 2014 there had been an extraordinary increase in exports of products such as grapes (80 percent), fresh avocados (80 percent), mangoes (23 percent) and, especially, quinoa (240 per cent), led by the gastronomic boom and demand for Andean grains in the world markets.
The minister announced that the agricultural sector had public investment projects for 3.655 million soles that would be implemented until 2016, in order to enhance the national agro.
He said the projects promoted by the MINAGRI are related to the promotion of the sector's competitiveness (982 million soles), involving the development of agricultural health, eradication of the fruit fly (Lima, La Libertad, Ancash), and the creation of the Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology, among others.
Regarding the projects to promote social inclusion (1,077 million soles), he said they included the small and medium irrigation infrastructure program, rural productive alliances, and the strengthening of markets, among others.
In addition, the projects for the sustainability of agriculture (1.596 million soles) include land affected by drainage rehabilitation programs, forestry programs and sustainable development in the Amazon, among others.
Source: Andina.pe