The results obtained in the development of Hass avocado have allowed Peru to become the second largest exporter of avocado worldwide, said the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Juan Manuel Benites, during the inauguration of the VIII World Avocado Congress, in which 26 international delegations meet in Lima.
Avocado shipments abroad, he said, account for 53 percent of national production.
Benites said that in 2014 the surface devoted to Hass avocado crops had doubled in more than 30,000 hectares and that the average yield had grown from 8 to 12 tons per hectare due to the major agricultural areas devoted to this production.
In a decade
"In the last 10 years avocado exports have gone from 18,700 tons, i.e. $23 million dollars, to 179,000 tons worth $306.9 million dollars at the end of 2014. That is to say, the export value increased 13 times in just a decade," he said.
In this regard, the minister pointed out that the Peruvian Hass avocado reaches 58 countries worldwide, highlighting the US, UK, Vietnam, Canada and other nations.
He also noted that, a few weeks ago, the Minagri had managed gaining access to the markets of China and Japan, and that the first shipments of avocado had already entered said markets. "Our projections are we will export more than 5,000 tons of avocado to these two countries," he said.
Access to new markets
Benites acknowledged the work performed by the National Service of Agrarian Health (Senasa) and the close collaboration between the State and the private sector so that the country's agricultural products gained access to new markets.
He also highlighted the expansion of the agricultural frontier for various export crops such as Hass avocado with the ongoing implementation of major irrigation projects, such as Olmos, Chavimochic III, Majes-Siguas II, Alto Piura, Puyango-Tumbes and Chinecas.
"We will be able to irrigate 400,000 new hectares with these projects, which have an estimated investment of $3,250 million dollars," he said.
The Minister was accompanied by the Undersecretary of Promotion and Regulatory Programs of the Ministry of Agriculture of the United States, Edward Avalos; the head of SENASA, Jorge Barrenechea, and the president of Prohass, James Bosworth, among others, at the opening ceremony.
