Agriculture minister urges farmers to consider alternative crops as prices crash due to oversupply
Peru’s minister of agrarian development and irrigation, Ángel Manero, has asked the country’s farmers not to plant more mangoes in the next three years due to the overproduction blighting the current season.
“We ask that they do not plant more mango in the next three years to help control future oversupply. We know that this decision can generate concerns, so we also offer them alternatives,” Manero told a press conference in the northern city of Chiclayo.
The warning comes as demand has failed to keep pace with the steep rise in production following last season’s weather-related problems. Analysis from Fresh Fruit Peru shows that export prices are down 46 per cent compared to 2023/24, when high temperatures and heavy rainfall led to a fall of almost 67 per cent in the volume of fresh and frozen mangoes exported.
Manero noted that the situation has been exacerbated by the overlap between production in Lambayeque and Piura, one of the largest mango producing regions in the country.
“A perfect storm has been created in the mango sector. As you know, last year production was low due to climatic factors, and it has always been observed that mango responds elastically in the following campaign. This year, however, production has been higher than expected, coinciding with the campaign of Piura,” he said.
The minister said that the lack of available containers for export and competition from other products had further complicated the situation.
“In addition, we are facing an international problem related to the shortage of containers. Freight costs are becoming more competitive due to the campaign of Chilean grapes, blueberries and cherries, with which we compete for the same spaces on ships. These factors have combined, which has led to us not being able to harvest or export enough fruit,” he said.
To tackle the problem, the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation has announced an action plan to manage the excess of mango that cannot be exported or harvested properly.
This includes investing in five processing plants to produce dried mango, along with the promotion of alternative crops like raspberries, especially for farmers in the north of the country.
