The planted area with Hass avocados in Peru is predicted to double to 20,000ha in four years’ time, allowing the South American nation to leapfrog neighbouring Chile in terms of productivity.
By 2017 Peru’s Hass avocado production will surpass Chile’s 190,000 tonnes, according to Augusto Cillóniz, general manager of Agrícola Cerro Prieto (ACP), one of the largest avocado suppliers in Peru.
Despite the expansion, however, Chile will still have a bigger production base of around 34,000ha, Cillóniz said in a report by Agraria.pe.
Cillóniz claims Peru has “great growth capacity” for avocados which is why further investments are being made into planting along the country’s coast and in the mountains.
This year, Peru is forecast to export 100,000 tonnes of Hass avocados, an increase of 16.6 per cent on 2012, according to the report.
ACP manages 10 per cent of Peru’s current Hass avocado crop or 1,000ha, of which half is already in production, Cillóniz revealed.
The firm plans to export 7,000 tonnes of the fruit this year, up from 1,400 tonnes in 2012.
