In February of this year, national potato production amounted to 285,599 tons, i.e. 3.7% higher than in the same month of 2017, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI).
According to the INEI's Technical Report Peru: Departmental Economic Panorama, this positive behavior was due to the increase in planted areas in the departments of Ancash (79.2%), Puno (73.7%), Apurimac (32.2%), Cajamarca (17.2%), La Libertad (7.2%), and Huanuco (7.1%); which together accounted for 61.8% of the national production. Production also increased in Tacna (51.2%), Moquegua (33.8%), Piura (6.7%), and Pasco (2%).
Meanwhile, potato production decreased in Ica (-53.2%), Amazonas (-38.9%), Cusco (-33.3%), Ayacucho (-24.2%), Junín (-16%), Huancavelica (-10.7%), Arequipa (-5.4%), and Lima (-0.9%).
The INEI also stated that Peru had produce 113,708 tons of hard yellow corn in February 2018, i.e. 14.3% more than in the same month last year, as a result of the increase in areas harvested and yields obtained.
The production of hard yellow corn grew in the departments of San Martin (59.2%), Ica (42.8%), Ancash (33.7%), and Loreto (17.5%), which contributed 60.2% of the national total. A similar trend was reported in Ayacucho (365.2%), Cusco (77.7%), Moquegua (40.6%), Lambayeque (29.2%), Amazonas (10.8%), La Libertad (4.4%), and Huanuco (2%).
However, production decreased in Piura (-62.7%), Arequipa (-53.4%), Tacna (-50%), Pasco (-30%), Lima (-27.6%), Ucayali (-17.4%), Cajamarca (-10.6%), Madre de Dios (-7.2%) and Junín (-1.5%).
Source: agraria.pe