Piura's agricultural sector lost 640 million soles due to the drought of 2016 and the Coastal El Niño, stated the Head of the Regional Directorate of Agriculture (DRA), Mario Laberry Saavedra.
The drought, he said, left losses of 240 million soles, while the Coastal El Niño caused losses of 212 million soles in crop damages. In turn, the damages in the hydraulic infrastructure amounted to 200 million soles. Thus, the two phenomena that hit the region caused damages of 640 million soles.
Laberry Saavedra said 4,200 hectares had been destroyed, 22,000 were affected, and some 13,000 hectares had been harmed in the region.
Investment
The official said they were investing 18 millions soles in bonds to help producers in the planting of temporary crops, and the recovery of fruit trees. He also said that the rehabilitation of the hydraulic infrastructure had already been appraised and that the Minagri had invested 60 million soles in it.
Regarding the infrastructure of San Lorenzo, he said the priority was to perform reconstruction works and to work on the Tablazo, tunnel, Chipillico and other affected channels.
"The only thing that has been done is the rehabilitation of the channels with earth so that the water arrives at the plots. 22.8% of what was affected by the rains has not been repaired," he said.
He added that the approval of the works depended on Lima. There are 111 channels that have not been rehabilitated to date, affecting about 8,000 hectares of crops.
He said the investments were being streamlined so as not to affect the infrastructure in the future, as well as the depletion of the Piura river, the Sechura drain and the 1308 that are very important in the river basin and must be ready before December.
Bananas
The coordinator of the Public Investment Project of Organic Banana - PIPBO, Axel Herrera Seminar, stated that the red spot thrips plague, which appeared in 2012 and was identified by the Banana Technical Table, affected about 3. 500 hectares of the hectares devoted for exports (7,800 to 8,000).
According to Herrera, Pipbo aims to reduce the effect of the pest with the release of biological controllers from 45% to 30%. The project invests 9 million soles in the banana sector to favor more than 8 thousand associated producers in the region that work on some 7,800 hectares of organic banana for export.
According to him, they have purchased 35 million biological controllers for bananas which have been released in 410 hectares of demonstration plots. It is worth mentioning that there are 75 banana associations in the region.
20% of the productivity of this fruit, which gives work to thousands of Piurans was affected by the Coastal El Niño, due to the appearance of a pest that attacks the root of the plant.
Source: eltiempo.pe