He cocoa cultivation in the valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers (VRAEM), In recent years, it has presented significant challenges that have affected the productivity and profitability of producers, says the mayor of Pichari, Hernán Palacios.
One of the main difficulties mentioned by the mayor official is the drastic devaluation that the price of this product has suffered in recent years. “Before, with a kilo of cocoa, we could buy two kilos of meat and some bread (to) take away. Today a kilo of cocoa is between S/7 or S/8 and it is not even enough for half a kilo of meat,” comments Palacios to The Republic.
Low productivity is also a problem in the VRAEM area. While some farmers manage to achieve a production of 1,200 or even 1,500 kilos of cocoa, most are in the range of 600 to 800 kilos.
According to the mayor of Pichari, this is due to various factors such as inadequate phytosanitary control and the lack of response from the competent authorities, such as the National Agrarian Health Service (Senasa), in controlling diseases such as moniliasis.
“Almost 50% of cocoa is lost due to moniliasis and so far there has been no response from Senasa,” he mentions. In addition, he warns that this institution “has a single engineer to attend three districts, (in which there are) more or less 3,000 to 4,000 cocoa farmers,” which makes it impossible for it to provide them with efficient assistance.
He climate change It has also had a negative impact on cocoa production in the ceja de selva. The lack of rain in certain months weakens the cocoa plants and affects their yield.
In this sense, the mayor highlights the importance of implementing irrigation projects and making structural changes in investment regulations in the agricultural sector to counteract this problem.
“The law says that the irrigation system has to be left at the head of the farmer’s farm. (So), you leave a hydrant there. Investing to put drip irrigation, irrigation by expression (in the plot) costs like S /5,000 and the farmer doesn’t have one,” Palacios points out.
The market is another significant challenge for cocoa farmers. Although progress has been made in marketing and favorable prices have been established in some cases, such as the sale at S/19 per kilo for associations of certified cocoa women, Greater price differentiation and government support are required to boost cocoa production and consumption.
“We are asking for differentiated prices, because the VRAEM has been declared by a supreme decree as a priority zone of national interest for the development of agriculture,” Palacios points out.
II EcoCacaoVRAEM 2023
The II International Meeting of Cocoa and Aroma Chocolate EcoCacaoVraem 2023 will be held in the district of Pichari, located in the province of La Convención, Cusco, and will take place from July 20 to 22.
The business conference of the first EcoCacao held last year managed to sell around S/6.5 million, Palacios emphasizes. In this year’s edition, it is planned to almost double that amount.
“This year we are thinking of reaching S/10 million. Already, through the exporting mountains and jungle, the Ministry of Agriculture has guaranteed us five international buyers. The Minister of Production is also supporting four through his directions. international buyers and many national buyers have already confirmed to us,” says the official.
Source: Larepublica
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