Peru has been facing global problems such as the food crisis –warned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Program–, as well as the increase in prices and the shortage of fertilizers.
This last problem, according to Gabriel Amaro, executive director of the Association of Agricultural Producers Guilds of Peru (AGAP), can lead to less use of fertilizers by farmers, which in turn could lead to a decrease in the supply of food products.
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“By putting less fertilizers to the plant, it produces less, so you go to the market with fewer products”, express.
Along these lines, Rafael Zacnich, manager of economic studies at the Peruvian Foreign Trade Society (Cómex Perú), considered that this situation could increase imports of products for the second half of the year, but specified that this would not affect the national industry.
For his part, the former Minister of Agriculture Milton von Hesse added that he could increase the import of rice and yellow corn.
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However, the specialists consulted specified that the next planting campaign (August 2022 – July 2023) will have to wait to know what the magnitude of this growth in imports of food products will be.
“You are really going to know that towards the next campaign, towards the second half of the year, when you find out how they have sown, how they have prepared the land, if they have used these fertilizers the no, as to cherish [los efectos]”Zacnich said.
It is worth mentioning that in the current 2021-2022 campaign, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri), the area planted until March has reached more than 1.8 million hectares, which means 1.1% less than what was accumulated until March of the 2020-2021 campaign and 0.7% less than the historical average of planting .
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The sowing of wheat (-10.4%), starchy corn (-4.2%) and rice (-3.9%) registered a contraction until March, while potatoes have grown (5.4%) and yellow corn (0.9%).
Despite the contraction in installed hectares, Amaro pointed out that “more or less it has been possible to supply all markets”.
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Fertilizer
It is in this scenario that the Rural Agricultural Productive Development Program (Agro Rural) declared void on Sunday the tender for the purchase of urea in favor of small producers who have up to five hectares.
According to the executing unit of the Midagrithis decision was due to the fact that the technical specifications requested from the bidding companies were not met.
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As recalled, the Government allocated more than S / 348 million for the acquisition of more than 70,000 tons of fertilizer.
On the subject, the Comptroller General of the Republic reported yesterday that, had the urea been purchased, this product would have arrived in the country on September 4, when the bidding process contemplated being delivered to warehouses on August 3.
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Amaro and Von Hesse pointed out that the amount of urea that will be delivered to small producers will be insufficient. Von Hesse also pointed out that the country demands 1.2 million tons of fertilizer. “Nearly 500 thousand are urea. 70 thousand tons is little”said.
On the other hand, Agro Rural reported yesterday on the launch – to take place around midnight – of a new international call for the acquisition of urea, with a margin of two days for the new proposals to be presented.
In this context, the former Minister of Agriculture Juan Manuel Benites considered that the Government has to speed up the purchase process and the arrival of urea in the country.
“Still the big campaign [de siembra] It starts at the end of July, August and September. There is still time, it is not much, but we have to act quickly”, he pointed. He added that the fertilizer could take 20 to 30 days to arrive once purchased.
Both Benites and Von Hesse pointed out that in the case of urea, the products that most demand this fertilizer are rice, yellow corn and potatoes, and they are planted mainly on the coast. In the mountains, explained Benites, organic fertilizer is used more.
Likewise, the former minister considered that the Government must define the targeting, the delivery of the fertilizer, the follow-up and the control.
Also…
Resignation
The Midagri faced a crisis of its own this last Sunday. His head, Javier Arce, submitted his irrevocable resignation from his position after learning that he did not declare a criminal record.
In addition, according to the Sunday “Fourth Power”, the executive director of Agro Rural, Rogelio Huamaní, does not have experience in the agricultural sector, and was considered for the position as he was close to the secretary general of Peru Libre, Vladimir Cerrón.