Peru’s citrus harvest has fortunately not been affected by the heavy rain and floods. Companies from Peru’s fruit export sector have stepped in to provide much needed drinking water, fruit, food and other basics to alleviate the plight of communities suffering from the recent flooding and mudslides across the north of the country.
Sergio del Castillo, general manager of ProCitrus, commented that the citrus industry in Peru was fortunately not affected by the heavy rains. “The rain did not affect the current season and every thing is going well so far. Pisco, Ica and Nazca are places mainly with late varieties that are harvested in July and August, and that fruit is secure right now. In overall we don’t expect a growth of citrus exports volumes, we expect to maintain the same volumes around 270 000 tons.”
Lenny Carbajal Infantes, responsible for marketing at Vivero Los Viñedos, a large nursery and table grape producer in Peru, commented on the most recent rain and flooding: “If indeed Peru is critical, I don't know how so many misfortunes can be stopped... Thank God nothing has happened to us at our headquarters, but we know that some of our clients have been affected in the Nazca area, Ica and Pisco, the landslides have affected the citrus and avocado crops. In the north, our customers in the Virú and Chiclayo area have also been affected. They comment that the flow of the river was so great that it devastated everything it encountered. In Piura, our farm has not been damaged, but neighbouring areas have. The truth is that we are quite concerned, because we do not know when this will calm down, we are also waiting to see what the government says, since we have had to experience great damage in agriculture. Let's hope things get better for everyone's well-being. We call on all Peruvians to join forces to be able to get ahead, only united will we be able to continue growing.”
Export companies comes to aid of affected Peruvians
Her call has been answered with many Peruvian export companies coming to the aid of their workers as well as communities affected by the natural disaster. Complejo Agroindustrial Beta S.A., say they are aware of the importance of social responsibility and a healthy and balanced diet, with a donation to the Banco de Alimentos Perú of more than 70 000 kg of fruits, “grown with the highest quality standards.” The company said in an online post: “This donation will benefit hundreds of vulnerable people in the regions of Ica, Lima and Lambayeque.”
“In this difficult moment that the country is going through due to the intense rains caused by Cyclone Yaku, we were present with the delivery of food in the communities of Pampa de Lino, Arenal, La Viña, El Marco, Los Ángeles and Monte Verde in the districts of Jayanca and Mórrope in Lambayeque. Likewise, we support the repair of the Pampa de Lino bridge with the aim of strengthening the infrastructure and contributing to free and safe pedestrian traffic,” said the company in a statement.
Agro Vision Peru said “In the face of the onslaught of the rains that affected the north of the country, we united in providing support to our brothers and neighbours from different communities. In a first tour, during this week, we were able to reach the populated centers of Morrope (Dos Palos, Cartagena, Angolo I, Angolo II, Colorada and El Romero) with 22 cisterns of drinking water for consumption and in the following days we will reach different districts and population centers of Lambayeque and Piura.”
Danper – “In Danper #TodosSomosUno for the families and communities affected by the increase in rainfall and activation of streams, especially those of our thousands of workers. That is why we join in a sustained effort to mitigate the impact of this emergency. To our workers in the most affected areas of Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad and Ica, we reaffirm that our entire organization is with you leading initiatives to support you and your families.”
"With the commitment to provide the best for our communities, we went with support machinery to the hamlet of El Salvador, who for several days have been incommunicado, affected by the heavy rains. With this support, the objective is for the machinery to redirect the Shaman River that has overflowed and destroyed the only road that connects them with surrounding towns. In addition, water tanks were donated for the distribution of this important element to families that have been affected by atmospheric phenomena."
Flooding and mud slides caused by cyclone “Yaku”, earlier in March, across many parts of the north of Peru damaged key bridges and roads that caused some delays of getting export crops to ports. Mop up operations are ongoing.
For more information:
Sergio del Castillo
ProCitrus
Tel: +51 224 9026
Email: sdelcastillo@procitrus.org
www.procitrus.org
Lenny Carbajal Infantes
Vivero Los Viñedos
Tel: +56 272194
Email: lcarbajal@vlv.pe
www.vlv.pe