By Marco Aquino
LIMA, March 3 (Reuters) – Peru’s booming agricultural export sector could suffer this year from heavy rains and floods caused by the coastal El Nino weather phenomenon, business leaders and climate agencies warn, as effects begin to be felt on local fruit plantations.
The coastal El Nino is a periodic climate event tied to several months of abnormally warm waters primarily off the northern Pacific coast of Peru and Ecuador, generating heavy rainfall.
Gabriel Amaro, leader of the agricultural producers’ association, said that although the phenomenon is currently weak, it has destroyed some 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) of northern Peruvian fruit crops and could become moderate before July.
“It wasn’t in our plans,” Amaro told Reuters, noting companies were already taking precautions for the rains, which could damage infrastructure as well as harvests.
Traditionally a key mining nation, Peru’s agricultural sector broke new records with $15 billion in exports last year – up 17% from the prior year as it shipped blueberries, grapes, avocados, cocoa beans, asparagus, mangoes and citrus fruits primarily to the U.S., China and Europe.
Peruvian farmers are currently harvesting avocados and will begin picking blueberries, citrus fruits and pomegranates in May.
“This year, export growth will most likely be lower,” Amaro said.
MORE RAIN FROM MARCH
Peru’s ENFEN climate agency predicts above-normal rainfall on Peru’s northern coast starting in March, without ruling out “extreme events.”
Mario Salazar, chairman of the agro-industry committee of the private exporters’ association, told a recent press conference that mango production was already down 10% and blueberries were at risk of developing fungi after the rains and later becoming dried out from post-rain heat.
Peru is the world’s top exporter of blueberries, which brought in $2.5 billion last year.
The Lima Chamber of Commerce estimates that a weak-to-moderate coastal El Nino could bring daily potential losses of over 291 million soles ($85 million) across the agriculture, trade and manufacturing sectors of seven Peruvian regions.
Heavy rains that damaged transport infrastructure and basic service pushed the government to declare a state of emergency across 14 regions last week.
Floods and landslides during the rainy season, which began late last year, have affected 85,000, according to Peru’s disaster agency CENEPRED.
In 2017, the coastal El Nino left 162 people dead and caused economic losses equivalent to 2% of gross domestic product.
Forecasters have predicted that the global El Nino phenomenon, which impacts temperatures and rainfall worldwide, could begin this year.
($1 = 3.4138 soles)
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Sarah; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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