Peru’s agriculture industry is continuing to expand rapidly, after production grew by a record 13.1 per cent in June against the same period last year, according to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture.
Among the record crops were potatoes, rice, maize, cane sugar, coffee, asparagus, olives, cotton and mangoes, Minister Ismael Benavides Ferreyros said in an announcement.
Potato production reached 2.6m tonnes during the January to June period of this year, with volumes growing by 16.1 per cent in the month of June.
The asparagus crop also continues to make important gains, now ranking as Peru’s leading non-traditional export item.
Between January and June, production of the vegetable reached a record 141,906 tonnes and volumes rose by 30.7 per cent in June alone.
Mango volumes, meanwhile, have tripled, growing by 295.4 per cent in comparison to June 2007, with mandarins also up by a modest 8.1 per cent during the same period.
Conversely, production of onions, pumpkin and papayas in June fell by 30.2 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, due to the impact of a virus which has affected crops in the Peruvian highlands.
