The highlands of Piura have become an ideal area for growing berries because of their cold weather and good soil quality, said the head of Sierra Exportadora's Peru Berries program, William Daga Avalos.
He said that there are at least 15,000 hectares suitable in Piura ready for planting berries and to be part of the boom of these delicious fruits, which have a great demand in the world market because of their high antioxidant and protein content.
"All of Piura's highlands have the potential to produce different varieties of berries , such as blueberry, raspberry, cherry, and aguaymanto. The provinces of Morropon, Huancabamba, Ayabaca, and those that are over 1,500 meters above sea level are suitable for planting blueberry and raspberry," he said.
Piura meets the required agricultural and climatic conditions, the highlands are cold, have a great soil quality, an excellent climate and there are rainfalls starting December; so producers could have two harvests before that, one in April and one in September, he added.
Profitability
According to experts a hectare of blueberries has a net profitability of $120,000 dollars. One hectare has 5,000 plants and each plant produces at least 5 kilos; i.e. a hectare yields 25,000 kilos and, since a kilo of blueberries costs $10 dollars in the market, one can say blueberries are a great business opportunity because producers can recover their investment in the second year.
"In the case of raspberry, the profitability per hectare is 120,000 soles and producers can recover their investment in the first year. The profitability of aguaymanto is 60,000 soles and producers can pay their investment in the one campaign."
Source: andina.com.pe