There was an overproduction of garlic in the region in this campaign. Before the product was sold for three soles a kilo, now producers have to sell it for one sol per kilo, said the president of the Agricultural Society of Arequipa (SADA), Justo Diaz Cano.
On Tuesday at a press conference, they said that they produced 40,000 tons of garlic, 20,000 tons of which were not sold and are spoiling. Peru produces about 113,000 tons of garlic each season (October and November), 50% of which is harvested in Arequipa.
The Minister of Agriculture, Gustavo Mostajo, said that this happened because the production is not organized. To solve this, his portfolio is creating a national crop plan. He said that, this year, the production of garlic increased by 20% over the last year, but that the export market had decreased.
This, because one of the main destinations of Arequipa is Brazil and, due to Brazil's political crisis, exporters were unable to ship massive quantities to that market. This affected its marketing.
Every year, 1,500 tons of garlic are exported, but due to the aforementioned problems with Brazil, exporters shipped out 500 tons less, which affected Arequipa strongly, as it is the main supplier in Peru. Other markets are Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States. "What happened was that the investments were paralyzed and the product could not be sold," the minister said.
Yesterday, massive exports to Brazil were resumed. The minister visited the Aproexpro company, which is located in the district of La Joya, is one of the main exporters of garlic to Brazil, and was given the Senasa certificate, which guarantees the product's export quality.
Source: larepublica.pe
