Winter has clearly arrived to South America and the temperature changes are affecting the Peruvian banana fields. Even though this is the period of low production, this year the reduction in the harvest has been more noticeable. Associations and cooperatives are working hard to implement soil management, training and technical advice to producers, in order to contain effects of the weather. The goal is to exceed the exports achieved in 2015 by 15%.
Ronald Garrido, of the Agricultural Cooperative APPBOSA, spoke about the current prospects: "To have an optimum development, banana plants require sun and water, two essential factors that allow good productivity. The current weather conditions in which temperatures have started to drop lower than normal is causing a serious delay in the fruit. It's very worrisome to walk through our smallholder plots and see how the fruit for harvest is decreasing on a weekly basis. This situation is widespread and all organizations in the valley have recorded a low production. Meanwhile, the international demand has not decreased, so we are finding it very hard to supply the markets," he said.
As expected, organic bananas, like all products in this category, have an added value both for the consumer and for small producers; for the latter case, because it is the only fruit that offers farmers weekly returns throughout the year, which has led to an increase in the area devoted to this crop.
"Currently, we are exporting an average of 150 containers of organic bananas per week nationally, i.e. approximately 10% more than last year. Additionally, we've had a stable and fixed price throughout the year, $13 for an 18,14 kg box, so our expectations for our organic banana are still promising", the spokesman stated.
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