The Agribusiness in Peru have experienced remarkable growth in recent years, entering to compete in global markets that require greater competitiveness.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) agricultural exports reached a record figure of 9.800 billion dollars and this year it is expected to reach US$10.000 billion. In addition, blueberries have become the main exported product, reaching US$1.400 billion, followed by grapes, which reached US$1.360 billion.

due to growthThe demand for professionals continues to increase. According to the specialist Manuel López Ortiz, director of the Master's Degree in Agribusiness at the PAD – School of Management of the University of Piura, in 2022 around 2.700 agro-export companies were registered.

In the first years of agro-export growth, there was support from foreign professionals, especially from Chile, Brazil and Colombia, but currently the development and presence of Peruvian professionals is much greater.

In this context, It is essential that the managers of agribusinesses have specific management skills to face the challenges of the environment, such as strategic thinking to analyze changes in the environment., especially from the markets, effective communication to be able to relate to all the interest groups with which one interacts and efficient management of resources to face difficult times in terms of price reductions, mentioned the specialist López Ortiz.

"Today, growth has required an increasing professionalization of the chains that provide service and support to agribusiness, which is why we at the PAD have launched the master's degree in Agribusiness Management, which is concerned with the comprehensive training of professionals, according to changes in the market, in strategic aspects related to environmental, social and corporate governance criteria, as well as technical aspects", Agregó.

Competences

El development of strategic thinking It is a fundamental competence of professionals, given that markets change constantly and the agricultural sector is subject to not only economic variables but also environmental, social, and political ones that require managers to adapt their strategies not in the long term, but in the median and even year to year.

For the director, Another very necessary competence to develop is effective communication. considering that, in many cases, agribusinesses work in different production chains with different interest groups, as well as with the different production areas throughout the chain, field, plant, exports, national and international clients.

Resource management is also a core competency, Well, although the prices of several of the commodities have been quite favorable, this will not always be the case. On the productive technical side, training related to automation processes, digital transformation, big data and the application of artificial intelligence in agro-industrial processes is necessary.