A group of forward-thinking investors in South America have launched an ambitious project to develop a sustainable production area in Peru’s northwestern region of Lambayeque.
The so-called Olmos Irrigation Project, coordinated by H2Olmos (a subsidiary of the Odebrecht group), plans to divert water from the eastern Andes mountains to western Peru, where although water is scarce, the climate is ideal for growing a diverse range of agricultural crops.
The idea is to collect rainwater from the Huancabamba River at the Limon Dam and divert it along a 20km trans-Andean tunnel to the town of Olmos, the project coordinators told Fruitnet.com.
At Olmos, the water will be used to irrigate 43,500ha (of which 5,500ha is owned by local farmers and 38,000ha will be sold in a public auction) thereby transforming the area into fertile agricultural land.
By expanding the farmland areas through the irrigation of the Olmos plains, the project coordinators said they aim play a significant role in the agricultural development of northern Peru.
The project began in 2004 and construction of the tunnel is due to be completed by the first quarter of 2012, while the land to be irrigated will be auctioned off in large-scale lots (of 500ha and 1,000ha) in March 2011.
The Peruvian coastline is considered to be one large natural greenhouse, according to Fernando Cillóniz, an international agribusiness consultant.
“Olmos simply doesn’t have the extreme winters or very hot summers of other latitudes,” he points out.
“Olmos also has the added benefit of a dry climate due to its distance from the ocean, making it possible to grow nearly any crop – from sugarcane, corn and cotton to fruits and vegetables.”
Each lot of land will have high-quality pressurised water, access roads and will be connected to the national electricity grid.
Once irrigated, the developers said the land will benefit from high-quality, rich, sandy soils, an excellent climate, multiple harvests and high yields which exceed those of other producing areas in Peru.
For the full story, see p28 of Americafruit Magazine’s December 2010 / January 2011 issue.
