The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (Minagri) will implement four mango processing plants in the Valley of San Lorenzo, in the region of Piura, to improve the competitiveness of this fruit and consolidate its export to various markets.
This was stated by the vice minister of Agrarian Policies, William Arteaga, during the III Public Hearing of the Agrarian Commission of the Congress of the Republic that was developed in San Lorenzo.
Arteaga said that Minagri was working on a program to improve mango competitiveness in Piura.
He stated that the four mango processing plants would benefit more than 200 producers of four organizations, which would have a key tool to give added value to the mango and market it directly in the market.
The processing plants would give producers a space to collect, select, wash, and package the mangoes to market them, even outside the national market, strengthening the export of mango, which is very required abroad.
This project is being designed through Agroideas, which already has had several successful experiences in Piura with business plans for organic bananas and cocoa, the deputy minister said.
"We are making all the effort to make these four mango plants a reality so that farmers can process their product; but to achieve this, we need their support. That they work united, associated," deputy minister Arteaga said when he left Piura.
He added that another group of associated producers had requested a fifth mango plant in Piura, and that the Minagri would carry out the evaluations to determine if it can be executed and financed.
The Minagri stressed that producers will receive technical assistance in market and negotiation issues, strengthening their capacities for mango production. The goal is that this project to implement the processing plants becomes a pilot that can later be replicated in more areas of the region.
At the close of the Third Public Hearing of the Agrarian Commission, Deputy Minister William Arteaga listened to each of the consultations and proposals of the region's Users' Boards, in order to find alternative solutions to the problems that small farmers face.
They complained, for example, about a production disorder and mismanagement of the Users' Boards, and proposed an ordering of crops and greater control in the allocation of water resources. It was also evident that there was a confrontation between the current Board of San Lorenzo and a group of irrigators. For example, rice leader Jorge Burneo, strongly criticized Bruno Fosa, the president of that Board, and demanded transparency in his management.
However, the deputy minister stressed that dialogue and consensus must prevail among all the actors involved in the agricultural activity, together with local, regional and central government authorities.
Regarding the request to work on new irrigation infrastructures, such as the Vilcazán dam, in the province of Ayabaca, Arteaga Donayre said that according to the regulations, this proposal must comply with adequate studies in order for the Executive to evaluate it to see if it merits being executed.
