"Peru: "Plot fragmentation hinders stopping decline of mango production"
Estimates are that Ecuadorian mango exports fell by 10% over the previous season. The decline in exports, however, has been more dramatic in Peru. Exports in the previous season (2013/2014) amounted to 140,000 tons and expectations are they will decrease by 32.15% this season and only amount to 95,000 tons.
Rivera said Peru had had such a lower production because the Kent variety (which represents 90% of production) is very sensitive to temperature changes and because of the fragmented production in the country’s mango industry.
In this regard, he said, this fragmented production prevents the sector from performing cultural practices that could prevent sharp declines in production. "There are many plots and they are smaller, which makes things harder. If there were large plots we could carry out a series of cultural practices to remedy the effects of temperatures. The yields were better in the large plots where there was pruning, irrigation and the inputs were applied, than in the plots where nothing was done. "
Juan Carlos Rivera said that a plot of mangoes for export measured an average of 58 hectares in Ecuador, 35 hectares in Brazil, 4 hectares in Mexico, 29 hectares in Guatemala, and Peru has the smallest average plot size with only 1.9 hectares per plot.
Source: Agraria