Peru has more than 60,000 hectares of Hass avocado, nearly 24,000 hectares of which are in the hands of small producers who live from this crop. Avocado cultivation in the country has been growing steadily year after year and producers sell their avocados to different markets in Europe, the United States, Asia, and Latin America.
According to the president of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Hass Avocado of Peru (ProHass), Juan Carlos Paredes Rosales, 94% of the 23,715 Hass avocado producers in the country, i.e. 22,189 producers, are small farmers who own 0 to 5 hectares of Hass avocado.
In other words, 94% of producers are small farmers who own more than 1/3 of the hectares of Hass avocado cultivation, while the other 6%, which is made up of large funds and companies, owns 2/3 of the total hectares of avocado in Peru.
“We see the social impact that avocado cultivation has. The challenge is not only for large exporters but also for small family farming. Now, we need to be more efficient with labor, increase productivity (higher tons per hectare), and use pesticides responsibly. The avocado is a very noble crop,” Paredes Rosales stated.
He also pointed out that in 2023 the avocado crop would grow by 13% thanks to the important contribution of the producers from the highlands.
Peruvian avocado exports
According to data from Adex Data Trade, processed by Sedir, in 2022 Peru exported 582,507 tons of avocado, 97% of which was of the Hass variety. 28,480 tons originated from the department of Ancash, from the fields located in Moro, Nepeña Valley, and Casma. In the districts of Moro, Caceres del Peru-Jimbe, Pamparomas, and Nepeña alone there are 1,700 hectares of avocado in the hands of approximately 1,800 small producers.
The president of ProHass, Juan Carlos Paredes, also said that the constant rains caused by cyclone Yaku had covered the roads with mudslides and landslides, making it difficult for producers to take their products out of the fields.
“We don't know how many fields have been affected by landslides, but the most serious damage is to the road infrastructure that makes it impossible to move the fruit from the fields to the markets,” Paredes stated.
According to Sedir, some small producers in Moro lost several hectares of cultivation because of landslides, which also seriously affected irrigation infrastructure.
Source: agroperu.pe