'Peru is beating us'the president of the National Agricultural Society (SNA), Antonio WalkerThe alarm, however, is not new. For at least a decade, the agricultural sector has been feeling the effects of the rise of the Peruvian agribusiness sector, which has dethroned Chile in markets where it was historically the leading exporter in South America: table grapes, blueberries, vegetables, and avocados. In the future, this trend will only continue.

According to Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation From the neighboring country, fruit exports between 2010 and 2024 registered an average annual growth of 19,6%, compared to 6,8% for Chile during that period. At that rate, Peruvian agricultural shipments (fresh fruits and vegetables) would reach US$10.194 billion in 2025, surpassing Chile's US$9.979 billion and thus positioning itself, for the first time, as the largest exporter in the sector in South America, according to the report. That 2% difference in figures would increase to 9% in 2027.

The comparative advantages of the Inca market versus Chile are part of that backdrop. 'In the last year, Peru passed a new agricultural law with tax benefits for all producers and announced a US$24 billion plan to expand its irrigated land by one million hectares, more than Chile has today'Antonio Walker commented.

In the agricultural sector, they believe that this is compounded by multiple factors, such as the reduction of income tax from 25% to 15%, a projected GDP growth of 3,5% for this year, good weather conditions, availability of labor and water, the lowest inflation rate in the region (1,4%) and the low country risk, which operates in an orbit decoupled from the turbulent political system.

Attract more Chileans

This week, the Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Export and Tourism (PromPerú) organized the event in Chile. Invest Peru 2025, where various exhibitors spoke about the benefits of the neighboring industry. 'What interests us most is the arrival of Chilean expertise and capital. The Chilean industry is quite mature and can contribute innovation and technology to Peruvian crops, as has happened in the past.'the director told Diario Financiero PromPerú, Daniel Córdova. 'Our goal is to maximize export growth and accelerate it as much as possible in terms of fruit diversity,' citing as an example the potential of vegetables, mango, lemon and cherries, which they are just beginning to explore.

The economist and MBA from the University of Chicago revealed that, in the last 12 months, businesspeople in the national sector have shown a 'renewed interest' in Peruvian agriculture, making 25% more inquiries to the entity regarding alliance opportunities or possibilities of accessing new arable land.

There's no way to compete with them.

Following the meeting, one of the panelists and a long-time Chilean fruit entrepreneur, Samuel Escalante, director of Viveros El Tambo, he told DF: 'Peru is going to be a threat, not a complement, that's the realityThe former Dole employee—where he worked for almost two decades—has also been operating in the Andean country since 2014, with plantations in the Piura region.It's impressive what they've done, because they didn't have an export culture and in a short time they've developed it. They're moving very fast and they dealt us a blow with the port of Chancay.'.

Among the remaining challenges, he mentions the poorly completed Pan-American Highway and the remote roads to the Peruvian interior. However, he emphasizes thatThey see arable land where Chileans don't.'And it points to the same hills, those that continue to be planted with Inca techniques that have lasted for more than five centuries.

Another of the star guest panelists, Maritrini Lapuente, Executive Director of Viveros de Chile, who has promoted plant exports and the opening of markets in Peru for at least 13 years, told DF that he sees Peru's agro-industrial boom as 'This is an opportunity to join forces and for Chilean and Peruvian businesses to partner (…) because if we're going to take on the role of competing, we simply can't; the context there is much more favorable. Chile has no chance of competing with Peru. The comparative advantages are tremendous, so competing will wear us down, because we don't have the conditions to have a production that could compete in volume with Peru..

Along those lines, it suggests that there 'They have committed to developing their agriculture, and that is a political decision. We haven't done that in Chile; here, agriculture carries very little political weight.'

Among the key factors to improve at the local level, he points to over-regulation, the introduction of new pests, the need to apply more technology, and the need to transition to new varieties that are more productive and have greater climate resilience.

For Walker, 'The dynamism of the Chilean agricultural sector is currently facing a turning point. While local producers operate with increasing water and labor restrictions and high costs, our direct competitors are advancing rapidly. The challenge is clear, he says: 'Chile must invest in agriculture through an agenda that incentivizes investment, fosters productivity, adapts labor regulations to the realities of the countryside, and accelerates physical and digital infrastructure projects.''.