Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peruvian demand for fresh fruits and vegetables won’t be affected by the financial crisis in United States, except for some high-price market niches such as organic products, reported Produce Marketing Association (PMA), the most important association of importers, exporters and suppliers of the fresh products chain in Peru.

The International Vice-President of PMA, Nancy Tucker, said that even though the financial crisis was forcing many people to be more careful in their way of spending money in a difficult economic situation, the sale of fruits and fresh vegetables in supermarkets were not affected with the same impact as other consumer goods.

She indicated that in order to save money, many people wold prefer not to go out to eat in restaurants frequently, and instead to cook more at home, reason why the retail sale of fruits and fresh vegetables have gone through recession periods in the past.

However, she said that fruits and vegetables can be affected to price increases, as it happened at the beginning of this year, due to the rise of fuel, inputs, transportation costs, and so forth.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

The possibility of using genetically modified seeds in Peru continues to be a controversial issue between the Andean country's Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ismael Benavides, head of the Ministry of Agriculture affirmed on Thursday that allowing transgenic seeds into Peru was an intelligent decision that would benefit the country's nutritional needs in the future.

On the other hand, Environment Minister Antonio Brack announced on Wednesday that the Peruvian government would evaluate in January if Peru was going to be a country that does not produce transgenic crops.

Brack stressed the importance of this ban stating it was vital in fostering the production of organic products.

With these statements, the two ministers once again took up the debate of transgenic crops in Peru, reported El Comercio newspaper.

According to Andina news agency, Minister Benavides has stated that organic crops are produced in small quantities and are targeted towards a niche market.

He affirmed that in 30 years there would be 50 million Peruvians that would need a larger quantity of products. The key is transgenic crops because they improve productivity and reduce the risk of a food crisis, said Benavides.

He supported this by explaining that China had recently begun using eight genetically modified seeds.

"The minister can't mechanically transfer transgenic crop models used in the U.S., Canada and Australia to Peru," said economist and agriculture specialist Eduardo Zegarra, affirming that organic crops did not produce more but were more profitable for farmers.

According to a report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, crop production in Peru has increased 11.1 percent in the past year.

At present, 95 percent of Peru's national coffee production is exported and only five percent is consumed domestically, reported today Procafé, the agency that gathers organizations linked to the Peruvian coffee industry.

Procafé indicated that the per capita consumption of coffee could reach up to five kilos per year, if the population consumed 100 percent of the national production.

“If Peru consumed its total production, it just might reach the domestic consumption of countries such as Brazil with five kilos per capita a year, and get away from the 300 grams currently consumed", it said.

In this sense, Procafé indicated that to reach a higher per capita consumption it would be necessary to double current production levels, since Peru is one of the ten biggest coffee exporters in the world.

In addition, Procafé highlighted that the main benefit would be the increase of grain production that, by having a greater demand, would maintain stable prices in the country before imported ones.

News source: ANDINA

Peru’s ministry of Agriculture (Minag) is carrying out a study on the production of certified potato seeds in ten departments of the country with the aim of developing strategies to obtain a better quality tuber, reported today Miguel Quevedo, member of the General Management of Agricultural Promotion.

He said that the study is being effectuated by a private company in the departments of Cajamarca, La Libertad, Huánuco, Pasco, Junín, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Apurímac, Cusco and Puno.

“The objective is to evaluate the seed system because it is not working as it was expected; this is the reason why we want to improve the used infrastructure in order to better the seeds”, he said to Andina news agency.

Quevedo stated that the study is focused on evaluating the infrastructure used to obtain the certified seed such as the laboratories of tissues’ cultivation for the cleaning of plagues and diseases, greenhouses, thermotherapy chambers, among others.

He indicated that these infrastructures are installed in universities, municipalities, production companies, and institutes supported by the Government.

Quevedo also said that in a first stage there would be a revision of existent literature on seeds, then an infrastructure evaluation would be carried out, and finally participative workshops would be organized in the different departments to boost the use of certified seeds.

News soruce: ANDINA

Exports of this product increased 79.4 percent. Holland, the United States and England were the main end- markets.

The preference for healthy food developed with non-contaminant techniques which protect the environment, is showing a significant international increase.

Peru is not far from this process and is making a big effort to introduce and position an attractive organic supply that fulfills the quality and standards that are demanded by this new market.

One of the Peruvian products that are being impelled is the organic mango, which is showing an interesting growth.

First sales took place in 2003 with non-significant amounts. In the year 2007, exports increased 79.4 percent, jumping from US$ 1.72 million to US$ 3.09 million; reports Peru's Export and Tourism Promotion Board – PromPerú.

This product is mainly exported to Europe and North America. Holland occupies first place with imports for a value of US$ 1.38 million; it is followed by the United States with US$ 1.13 million and England with US$ 363,017.

Other markets that registered purchases in 2007 were Germany (US$ 94,267); Canada (US$ 55,484); Spain (US$ 35,034) and New Zealand (US$ 22,800).

This product is mainly demanded in presentations like: fresh (47.42%), pulp (32.47%) and chunks (20.11%).

Peru has an array of organic mangoes such as Haden, Kent, Edward, Tommy, Criollo and Chato de Ica. The principal production zones are located in Piura, Lambayeque and Cajamarca.

News source: Peru Organic

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

As people in Peru struggle with the increasing cost of staple foods, experts claim the prices of products will not be decreasing any time soon.

Chicken, a highly consumed poultry by Peruvian families, is one of the products that has increased in cost and affected a great deal of the country's residents.

After observing a 16 percent rise in the price of chicken in July and August alone, businessmen in the poultry industry affirmed on Tuesday that it was difficult to estimate when prices would decrease.

Despite its increasing cost, chicken is still cheaper than beef and pork, assured Jose Vera, the general manager of Redondos, one of Peru's top chicken producers.

"If one observes market prices, a kilo of pork costs 9.5 soles, when it used to cost 7 soles. Also tripe, which used to be cheapest for homemakers, is now sold up to 11 soles at markets," explained Vera.

According to Pedro Mitma, head of the Peruvian Poultry Growers Association the rise in chicken prices can be attributed to an increase in the cost of corn, which accounts for 80 percent of the cost of a chicken.

Mitma explained that because of global reasons, the cost of corn, which is used to feed chickens, had doubled since October.

During the past three years a gutted chicken cost consumers less than 5 soles per kilo, said Mitma, explaining prices would not drop this low for a long time.

Poultry in the Andean country is currently being sold for as much as 7 soles per kilo.

Peru’s minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Mercedes Aráoz, said today that the export of Peruvian coffee to China will increase considerably after the signing of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is expected to be concreted in November.

“China is a market that we did not consider to export coffee to, but now we think it is a very important opportunity for the introduction of this flagship product”, she said.

Aráoz indicated that the ministries of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) and Agriculture (Minag), among other institutions, are already working in the coffee promotion and diffusion program internationally, especially in the Asian market.

“It would be an opportunity for our coffee, if Chinese people, who now are not used to drinking coffee, would begin to do it, especially when their market is being reoriented and is demanding new products that are more globalized”, she added.

Aráoz also indicated that Peru exports coffee to more than 40 countries, of which the main ones are Germany (33 percent), the United States (23 percent), Holland (8 percent), and Belgium (5 percent).

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Affirming that Peru's coffee was recognized worldwide for its high quality, the Minister of Agriculture Ismael Benavides announced on Friday that the government had declared that Peruvian Coffee Day would be celebrated the fourth Saturday of every August.

According to Benavides, the coffee industry provided over two million Peruvians with jobs.

"This is a decision that fills the coffee industry with pride because it recognizes everyone that is in some way tied to coffee such as producers, industries, exporters, distributors and consumers," said Minister Benavides.

He assured the Ministry of Agriculture would work on promoting the consumption of coffee within the country so Peru did not depend on foreign markets.

Benavides explained 95 percent of the coffee produced in Peru was exported and only the remaining five percent was consumed by the country itself.

Peru's coffee consumption per capita is 500 grams per year.

Countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil have a per capita consumption of two, four and five kilos per year.

As part of joint work between local rural communities, private companies and government authorities in the Peruvian regions of Junín and La Libertad, the Sierra Exportadora program announced today the birth of the first Australian dairy sheep in Peru after the successful transfer of 150 frozen embryos imported from the Oceanic country.

Sierra Exportadora operation manager, Zaida Puescas, said the transfer of frozen thawed embryos in sheep has been developed for the first time in our country and it is the starting point to improve the sheep industry in order to produce better products such as milk, gourmet cheese, high quality wool and meat.

In the district of Chongos Altos, at some four thousand meters above sea level, a hundred black belly sheep were inseminated by intrauterine laparoscopy with frozen semen from an East Friesian, a breed of dairy sheep from Germany.

News source: ANDINA

Modern science and traditional science exchange views

Local farmers and international potato scientists exchanged views today as they met in the Cusco Potato Park, located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The visit was an important part of the conference that is took place in Cusco, entitled: "Potato Science for the Poor: Challenges for the New Millennium".

Over a hundred scientists from over 30 countries visited some of the highest areas of the park, between 3,500 and 4,050 meters above sea level. There, local conservative experts, known as "papa arariwas", guided them around plots where hundreds of local potato varieties are conserved.

This unique biological diversity is essential, both as an element in the local diet and culture, and as a reservoir of bidodiversity that can be used to breed future varieties of potato.

Afterwards the scientists and the farmers exchanged views on the conservation of potato diversity and potato cultivation in Peru and the rest of the world.

"Working together, you, the scientists, and we, the arariwas, is the best way to work for future generations", said Justino Yuccra, an arariwa from the Cuello Largo community. "You have the modern knowledge, we have the indigenous knowledge, if we link them, we could increase our biodiversity and also help other people to face climate change."

Other issues presented during the meeting were global warming, the improvement of new potato varieties, access to markets, the new biotechnological tools and the origin and dissemination of the potato.

Official press release