Mango shipments from Piura will have a three week delay due to the scarce water supply in San Lorenzo's Reservoir and the irregular rainfall in the region, said Juan Carlos Rivero, president of the Peruvian Association of Mango Producers and Exporters (APEM).
According to him, in the last months of the year the San Lorenzo Reservoir, located in the Piura region, allocates approx 80% of its water for rice farmers in the area and the remaining 20% goes to the mango producers. In that sense, he advised that the responsibility lies with San Lorenzo's Board of Irrigation, which doesn't have a good political system to manage its waters. "Mangoes need 13,000 cubic meters of water per year to produce at full capacity, but in these conditions it will decrease," he said.
Angel Gamarra, president of the Peruvian Association of Mango Growers (PROMANGO) also indicated that the fruit's production during the 2013-2014 season will remain the same as in the 2012-2013 campaign. "We expected to grow 5% from last season, but with the lack of water and irregular rainfall we expect the production to only reach 110,000 tonnes, similar to the previous crop," he said.
"Mangoes need between 20ºC and 30ºC to ripen, but there has been rain showers and temperatures reaching 16ºC in the region in the last four months. This climate will undoubtedly affect the fruit growth and the mangoes will fall from the trees, which will affect quality," he said.
However, Rivero noted that this situation would promote Peruvian exports, since the delay in fruit growth would allow Peruvian producers to take advantage of an export window when the global market has insufficient supplies. "We would begin exporting three weeks later than normal and we would be the only providers of this fruit in the U.S. and Europe," he said.
"Previously, Piura began exports in the first week of November (wk 45). Now we'll begin it in the third week and our exports will peak between week 52 and week 1, when Ecuadorian and Brazilian mango shipments to the U.S. and Europe have ended, " he said, adding that they expect Peruvian mango prices to be favourable, but declining to specify exact numbers.
In turn, Gamarra reported that 90% of mango exports would be of the Kent variety and 10% of Keitt and Ataulfo varieties. He also said that there are 16,500 acres of mango production in Piura, 3,500 acres in Lambayeque, and 2,000 acres in Ancash.
Source: Agraria.pe