Crisis led to closing agricultural campaign in red

Last year, the Peruvian agricultural sector went through one of the most serious crises on record. A first trigger for this situation was the war between Russia and Ukraine, which exacerbated the fertilizer supply crisis, which had already been worsening due to the pandemic.

Anaximandro Rojas, president of Conveagrodetails that this crisis hampered the regular growth of plantationsdue to the lack of essential nutrients, a situation that, in turn, complicated obtaining good harvests, especially in crops that depend on high levels of fertilizers.

The crisis It was also reflected in the decrease in plantings. In the first quarter of the 2022-2023 agricultural campaign, which spanned from August to October, a decrease of more than 56,000 hectares (-7.6%) was recorded compared to the same period of the previous campaign. The most affected regions were FistAncash and Tacna, which experienced reductions of 31.4%, 23.5% and 19.8%, respectively.

The sowing of quinoa fell 30.5%, potatoes (-12.1%), corn (-6.6%) and rice (-4.9%), mainly due to the reduction of cultivated areas in Puno , Huancavelica and Ayacucho.

During this time, Uncertainty among farmers worsened due to the four failed attempts to acquire urea by the Government of Pedro Castillo, which was later compensated with the delivery of the first Fertiabono.

“Although the bonus helped in part, there was a lack of more effective support from the Government in the acquisition and distribution of fertilizers. In many cases, the bonuses arrived late and did not have the expected effect on production performance,” he commented. Reds.

However, the subsidy equivalent to S/389 per hectare of cultivation was far from improving the situation of small farmers. farmerswho also faced the attacks of the weather anomalies.

In the second half of the year, the crops of millions of farmers went through the worst drought in more than 50 years, which led the Executive to declare an emergency in 17 regions and later to deliver the Get Back Now bonus to mitigate the crisis.

However, the president of Conveagro highlighted that, beyond a subsidy, the Government should have foreseen the construction of reservoirs and tubular wells to mitigate the impact of the water deficit. In addition, he warned that there is slow action by the State in the implementation of these projects.

In November 2022, described by the National Meteorological Service of Peru (Senamhi) as the driest month in the last 58 years, the sowing of the main transitional crops fell on more than 62,000 hectareswhich meant a reduction of almost 20% of the total crop area nationwide. Ayacucho It stopped planting 15,227 hectares, becoming the most affected region, followed by Huancavelica (-14,970 hectares) and Cajamarca (-12,191 hectares).

Consequently, the sowing of green grain peas fell by 44.5%, wheat (-41.9%), grain barley (-36.8%), starchy corn (-32.7%) and potatoes (-19, 6%). Of the 23 crops monitored, only 2 had positive performance.

A few months later, in March, Cyclone Yaku caused a new crisis in the 2022-2023 agricultural campaign. The National Emergency Operations Center (COEN) reported that, due to the rains and floods caused by this weather event, 16,582 hectares of crops were lost and another 33,954 hectares were affected.

These factors led to the sowing, at the end of the agricultural campaign, were reduced by more than 36,800 hectares, which meant a drop of -1.8% compared to the result of the 2021-2022 campaign. In total, 1 million 981,852 hectares were planted.

Among the most affected crops were quinoa (-16.5%), potatoes (-6.7%) and starchy corn (-6.4%).

Data

Dependence. In 2021, Peru was the second country in Latin America with the most depended on Russian fertilizer importsrepresenting 43% of the total used in the country.

Rise. Between May and December 2022, fertilizers rose 122.4% compared to 2019.

An improvement in agricultural policy is needed

Milton Von Hesse, former Minister of Agriculture

The 2023-2024 agricultural campaign begins with very weakened agriculture and farmers, and as it was pointed out Julio Velardeis probably the worst year in at least 25 years for agriculture, and that not only has implications for production, but above all for the standard of living of farmers.

The fact that there has been low production means that the majority of farmers and family members have had their income affected and, therefore, they will surely have less capacity to invest in the campaign that is beginning.

On the other hand, modern agriculture also has problems, we have seen what is happening with mango, lemon was probably the most emblematic case, blueberries have also been greatly affected, grapes too, and agro-exporters are already doing restructuring plans and reviewing its recovery capacity, and also hiring workers.

So, we have a sector that is starting this campaign with financial difficulties, a consequence of the international context, a consequence of the Yaku and El Niño that is coming, a consequence of the absence of an efficient agricultural policy in the sector and a drought that last year was in the entire mountain range of the country.

The outlook is difficult, and what is possible is a substantive improvement in the agricultural policymore oriented to the farmer than to the product.

Already we are almost too late to face the next Niñowe have lost about four or five months of window of opportunity to do the things that had to be done.

Critical points must be reinforced with some basic infrastructure and some rivers in the most flood-prone areas must be cleared. There is very little time.