In the first quarter of this year, the volume of banana exports fell by 13% while pineapple exports decreased by 15% compared to the same period of 2014.
According to representatives of the producers, this decline that can be seen in the data from the Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) is due to the impact of irregular weather in the north and the Caribbean of the country.
Banana export sales amounted to 631,753 tons in the first four months of this year, against 726,804 tons in the same period of 2014, according to the website of PROCOMER.
Pineapple sales totalled 589,653 tons between January and April this year, against 695,049 tons in the same period of 2014.
The value of banana exports fell by 13.6% between January and April this year when compared to 2014. In 2015 it generated $266 million dollars while last year they amounted to $308 million dollars, according to PROCOMER.
Pineapple sales decreased by 14%; in 2015 they amounted to $248 million dollars while in 2014 they amounted to $289 million dollars.
Banana and pineapple producers assured they hadn't fired any workers yet, but they said they were feared that El Niño would worsen the situation. Banana producers employ 40,000 people and pineapple producers create 25,000 jobs.
Pineapple and Banana Sales (infographic GN)
Banana accounts for 32% of the total income from agricultural exports and pineapple accounts for about 30%. Together, they generate more than 60% of agricultural sales.
Factors
Abel Chaves, president of the National Chamber of Producers and Exporters of Pineapple (Canapep), said this year's situation was the result of excessive rainfall between June and August 2014.
Back then, he said, producers were unable to perform normal duties. For example, they could't plant all that they had planned to.
He said the water not only complicated their work, but that it also led to a higher deterioration of machinery.
Edgar Quiros, president of the National Chamber of Independent Banana Producers (Anaproban), said the end of 2014 had been very cold and had reduced the fruit's development.
Juan Carlos Rojas, legal director and spokesman for the Standard Fruit Company, said production had been affected by the weather and that it had affected all companies and the country.
Little can be done given the impact of the weather, what we could do improving our technology, for example, with new agrochemical molecules, said the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Luis Felipe Arauz.
Indeed, the demand for such products has fallen about 15% this year in the banana and pineapple areas, said the executive director of the Chamber of Agricultural Inputs, Roberto Obando.
Source: nacion.com