According to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Edgar Vasquez, Peruvian agricultural exports could grow by 4% by the end of this year, as this sector has had an interesting dynamic in the first seven months of the year.
Agricultural exports would go from 5.107 billion dollars in 2015 to 5.31 billion in 2016, a major advance as in 2005 agricultural sales abroad totaled 1.3 billion dollars, he said.
In 2015 non-traditional agricultural exports amounted to 4.388 billion and traditional ones to US 718 million.
The government expects to double agricultural exports to 10 billion dollars by the time the country celebrates its Bicentennial Independence Day, he said during his presentation at the Agroexportacion event organised by the Foreign Trade Society of Peru (Comex Peru).
Of this amount, 4.8 billion would correspond to exports of fresh fruit and vegetables, 2.8 billion to processed, preserved and other products (including frozen), and 1 billion to functional and bio-commercial products, he said.
Peru exports grapes, mango, avocado, organic bananas, citrus, asparagus, onions, pomegranates, and cranberries, among other fruits and vegetables.
Some of the frozen products that the country exports include mango, avocado and asparagus. Peru also exports canned artichokes, canned olives and canned capsicum, as well as mango and passion fruit juices, among others, he said.
The country's exports of functional and bio-commercial products are led by exports of quinoa, amaranth, cañihua, purple corn, giant corn from Cusco, chulpi corn, maca, yacon, yams, cherimoya, lucuma, and aguaymanto, among others, he said.
Source: andina.com.pe