Nearly 100,000 tons of potatoes in the province of Julcan risk being lost due to the drought and frosts in the highlands of La Libertad.
The harvest begins in February and ends in June, but the crop is already drying up for lack of rain. Additionally, the frost at night is also damaging the crop.
The authorities from Julcan, led by Mayor John Rodriguez Espejo, met with Governor Luis Valdez Farias and asked him to declare an agricultural emergency for this part of the region.
They said that they had already lost 70% of the potato production and that they could lose the remaining 30% in a fortnight. This has affected an estimated 1,000 farmers. Rodriguez said they needed to build a dam.
Meanwhile, Valdez Farias asked the Regional Council and the national government to start the relevant procedures to declare a state of agricultural emergency.
In addition, he said he would compile the technical file so that they could build a dam and irrigation system so that producers could use the water from the upper parts of the province or from Quiruvilca and avoid future droughts.
Source: larepublica.pe