ProCitrus calls for new citrus investment in Peru

ProCitrus is calling for greater investment in new citrus plantings in Peru amid fears that export growth could stall. The association’s general manager, Sergio del Castillo, said that despite registering double digit growth last year, exports could stagnate within three years without investment in new farms.

He is urging the government to launch a campaign to generate investor confidence and encourage plantings in new production areas.

Del Castillo noted that the last time mandarin trees were planted in Peru was in 2020, these trees now having entered production (they begin producing in the fourth year of planting).

According to del ProCitrus there are approximately 80,000ha of citrus plantings in Peru, of which 35,000ha are oranges, 20,000ha are lemons, and the remainder are mandarins.

Del Castillo warned that if there is no new mandarin acreage in 2025 or 2026, exports will stagnate within three years. He believes that Peru could export three times the volume of oranges it currently exports, since there are many areas where production could be expanded. Similarly, in Persian limes, new production areas are emerging in the north of the country.

Peruvian citrus exports totalled 304,447 tonnes in 2024, representing a 19 per cent increase compared to the previous year. This year, shipments are expected to grow by between 5 and 6 per cent.

“Mandarins set the pace for citrus exports, accounting for 76 per cent of the total volume shipped in 2024, so any slowdown in mandarins will slow down the entire citrus category,” del Castillo said.

Highlighting the need to reform the country’s Agrarian Law to incentivise investment in the sector, he noted: “New irrigation projects are now underway, such as Chavimochic III (La Libertad), Majes Siguas II (Arequipa), among other water improvement or reinforcement projects on the coast. However, without a long-term public policy that provides legal stability, no one will invest in these areas”.