Up to November, the area planted to the main temporary crops in the present agricultural campaign —which began in August of last year— registered a reduction of -18.8% and reached 858,182.1 hectares (ha), compared to more than 1 million 057,000 in the same period of the previous campaign.
The figure also meant a drop of -28.98% compared to the average number of plantings registered in the last campaigns to the penultimate month of the year, according to data from the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri).
As a result of this setback, the planting of seven of the eight main transitory crops decreased by up to a third of its surface in relation to the volume planted in the same period of the last five campaigns.
In the case of rice and dad, which together represent 22.1% of the gross value of agricultural production (VBP), around 134,560 and 207,538 hectares were planted, respectively, which in turn is equivalent to an accumulated fall of -0.9% and -16 .4% in the cultivated area for each product (see infographic).
Fourth failure to import fertilizers into the country further complicates the present agricultural campaign. Photo: The Republic
In what corresponds to rice, of the 18 regions that produce this cereal, 10 registered negative figures and eight —including San Martín and Lambayeque— planted more than in previous seasons.
A similar situation was observed in potatoes, where only four of the regions that produce the tuber planted more than the usual average in November. In Fist, In the main region where this food is grown, the planted area decreased -19.7% and reached 46,617 hectares compared to the historical average of 58,027 hectares up to the same month.
Among the foods affected, quinoa also stands out, whose average planting has been reduced by more than a third (-31.9%), followed by dry grain beans (-26.9%), yellow starchy corn (-22.7 %), onion (-16.8%) and corn corn (-11.8%). In the eleventh month of 2022, only yellow corn exceeded the average of the last campaigns and registered 115,433 hectares planted, which represented an increase of 1.8% in its cultivation area.
High costs and drought
In Puno, the main problem that affected planting is the lack of rain, Roger Flores, president of La República, told La República. Conveagrus of said region. “We have not had the frequency of rain. In September and October, we used to prepare the land and sow, but now we have had a drought”, he mentioned.
The agricultural leader points out that, although it has already started to rain, the damage to the agricultural campaign has already been done. “The harvest was always done in May, and now that is not going to happen,” he mentions. In addition, he adds that, despite the rainfall, the planting volume will have “a considerable reduction” and will not reach what was planted in previous campaigns.
On the other hand, in what corresponds to the planting of rice, what has hit this campaign the most are the high production costs, says Carlos Guevara Dioses, vice president of the San Antonio del Milagro Users Committee of Lambayeque.
“Previously, here in Lambayeque we invested S/8,000 per hectare and in the last two years we are investing almost S/12,000 per hectare,” he details. In this sense, he refers that the main factor that promoted this increase is the high price of fertilizers.
Therefore, it indicates that the government’s inability to finalize the purchase of urea directly affected rice producers, since the companies that distribute the fertilizer in the country tend to sell it at an excessive price. “We wanted Midagri to matter (urea) to regulate prices here in Peru,” he says.
Finally, he stresses that the current concern of rice growers is achieve a “fair price” for their product in the next harvest, in order to recover their investment and pay the credits they maintain.
keys
Crops. Regarding the performance by region, Tumbes, Cajamarca and Huancavelica are the departments where the reduction in planting has been the strongest, with falls of -67.8%, -39% and -34.1%, respectively.
Top 10. Ayacucho (-30.2%), Cusco (-29.6%), Puno (-27.1%), Apurimac (-24.6%), Tacna (-19.6%) continue on the list ). La Libertad (-17.3%) and Junín (14%).
Source: Larepublica
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