Peruvian asparagus harvest not affected by El Niño

Despite the climatic phenomenon known as El Niño, which is affecting the Americas, the Peruvian asparagus harvest remains stable. This is good for the country, since Peru is the world's largest asparagus exporter.

"Until earlier this week, Peru has shipped 17,750,000 5 kilo boxes, which is about 95 percent of the exports achieved last year," said Andrés Jochamowitz, of Proagro. "Therefore, despite the fact that we had some higher temperatures because of El Niño, production has not been significantly affected. Rising temperatures have a greater impact on fruit than on vegetables, although no significant impact on the overall product has been registered so far as a result of El Niño."

As the world's largest asparagus exporter, Peru ships most of its production to the United States. With 52 percent of its exports going to the U.S., Proagro focuses more on the European market, where it ships 41 percent of its exports. Because of this, the new TPP free trade agreement will not have much impact on the trade of asparagus, as existing treaties cover the current business; however, the treaty may lead to the opening of new markets.

"I don't think trade will be immediately affected, but with the creation of new opportunities in other countries with no previous treaties, I have no doubt that we'll have a chance to diversify," said Jochamowitz. "There is considerable potential in Asia, but since there is not sufficient capacity to supply these markets by air we are failing to increase our export volumes to those countries, where more than 50% of the sale price at destination corresponds to logistics costs."