In 2016 and 2017, Peru expects to plant one thousand hectares of citrus per year, mainly of tangerines and oranges, said the general manager of the Citrus Growers Association of Peru (ProCitrus), Sergio Del Castillo Valderrama.
Del Castillo said these hectares included new areas, and that they would also replace some hectares which had old varieties planted for the local market with products for export, such as the Nadorcott tangerines (also known as W.Murcott tangerines) and other Israelite varieties.
Del Castillo said the new areas of citrus would be installed on the north coast, such as Lambayeque and Ancash. He also said that other potential regions for these crops were La Libertad and Arequipa because of their favorable weather conditions and the execution of irrigation works, such as Chavimochic and Majes, respectively.
"There is expectation that the United States will allow the entry of citrus produced in all regions of Peru (not only from Lima, Ica, Junin, Piura and Lambayeque as before), which is why there is citrus being planted in most regions," he said.
Prevention measures against El Niño
The general manager of Procitrus also referred to El Niño, which will be present throughout the Peruvian coast in summer. He said Procitrus was working in conjunction with the National Service of Agrarian Health (Senasa) to reinforce controls and prevent the entry of diseases and pests that often appear when there are climatic changes.
"In the case of Huanglonbing (HLB) or yellow dragon, we are conducting prevention works at the border, developing a program to confiscate plant material. We are also reinforcing the placement of traps and checking them to see if the vector is present because of El Niño," said Sergio Del Castillo.
Data
Sergio Del Castillo said the country currently had 62,000 hectares of citrus, 7,000 hectares of which are for export.
Source: agraria.pe