"Peru's citrus harvest began in early March with the early varieties, such as the Satsuma variety. Production continues during the winter months with other varieties such as clementines, Minneola tangelo, Novas, W. Murcott, etc., and the citrus season comes to an end around September, with the late varieties and table oranges. This year we expect to grow by 15% more than in the 2015 campaign, which only grew 1% over the previous year," said Emilia Belaunde, representative of Procitrus Peru.
The Satsuma, W. Murcott, and Minneola tangelo varieties continue to be the most important Peruvian citrus varieties for export. "Peru's main competitors are South Africa, Uruguay, Argentina and Australia. Peruvian citrus, however, remain well positioned in high demand markets like the United States; the number one importer of Peruvian citrus with 31% of the total volume exported last year, closely followed by England with 27% and the Netherlands with 18%. The Netherlands serves as an input port where the Peruvian citrus is redistributed for Europe," said Belaunde.
"So far, El Niño phenomenon has not created major problems in production, in particular in the mandarin crops on the central coast of Peru, which are responsible for the largest volumes of export. We have positive growth forecasts for this year. We expect a 15% increase in production and exports, in relation to the 115,000 tons exported in 2015," the representative of Procitrus Peru stated.
It's worth noting that the main objective of the IX International Seminar on Citrus, which will be held on April 19 and 20, is to encourage and promote consumption of Peruvian citrus, providing extensive information about this fruit to the participants. This event will feature the participation of international guests, scientists, and experts from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, and Morocco; as well as high-level Peruvian specialists.
