"This avocado is exquisite, low in fat, and good for your health," Violeta Monroe, the president of the Association La Joya Agro Export, proudly stated at one of her plots. The agrarian organization that she leads produces arequipeña Hass avocados, a product that is currently being marketed in different countries, such as Canada, China, the USA, and Sweden.
The implementation of a Business Plan of the Compensation Program for Competitiveness - AGROIDS of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI), changed the life of the 33 members of this association after they replaced their traditional onion, potato, and carrot crops with Hass avocado. "We did not have the experience of growing avocados and we did it as we could. The help has been great, as we had a permanent technician who taught us how to carry out a fertilization plan and better nutrition of the plant that gave us a better harvest," Monroe said.
The State invested S / 619,449.33, which included 22 thousand plants of avocado, stationary pumps, tools, fertilizers, technical assistance, and the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which allowed them to obtain the Global GAP certification to directly export their product; something they expect to do soon.
After three years and once the Business Plan was completed, the La Joya Agro Export Association managed to quadruple its production. Currently they produce 22 tons per hectare per year, compared to the 5 thousand tons with which they started the project.
Similarly, with the support of AGROIDEAS, they participated in the Expoalimentaria 2018 fair, where they made contact with certification and exporting companies that allowed them to sign contracts to expand their business.
First export product
According to figures from the National Superintendence of Tax Administration (SUNAT), the Hass avocado was Peru's leading export product in 2018 with a volume of 360 million tons that translates into sales of US $ 719.6 million (FOB VALUE).
This had a direct impact on the producers of the La Joya Agro Export Association: "2018 was a very good year because we had a good production and tripled our profits," Violeta Monroe said.