The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) indicated that the agricultural sector would have registered a growth between 1.0% and 1.2% in 2020, compared to the previous year, despite Covid-19, being one of the few sectors that showed a positive performance in the year just ended.

Midagri pointed out that within the agricultural subsector, the main products that experienced growth during the months of January to October 2020 are blueberries, which increased by 37.6% (increase in production area in La Libertad, Lambayeque, Ica and Áncash ), followed by paprika with 28% (greater area harvested in Lima, Arequipa and Piura); paddy rice with 10.1% (due to a greater area planted and harvested in Lambayeque, San Martín and Piura) and cocoa at 9.6% (greater area in production and improved yields in Ucayali, San Martín and Cusco).

The good performance of avocado production should also be highlighted, which grew 8.7% (greater area harvested in La Libertad, Lima and Ica); alfalfa by 7.8% (due to a larger area in production in Puno, Moquegua and Arequipa); asparagus with 4.5% (due to the greater area harvested in Ica and Lima); parchment coffee increased by 3.1% (in San Martín, Pasco and Cajamarca), among others.

On the other hand, regional agricultural exports as of October grew in 19 out of 24 departments, highlighting in this behavior the sales of food to the international market compared to 2019, such as Ayacucho with a growth of + 112% with products such as quinoa , avocados and tare powder; Ucayali (+ 103%) with palm oil; Junín (+ 71%) being relevant products such as ginger, unroasted coffee and turmeric, among others.

The San Martín region also stands out (+ 26%) with the placements of rice, coffee and cocoa; Amazonas (+ 22%) with unroasted coffee; Lambayeque (+ 12%) with products such as blueberries, avocado and frozen mango; Piura (+ 4.8%) with fresh and frozen mango and blueberries; Ancash (+ 4.8%) with avocados, blueberries and mangoes; La Libertad (+ 3.6%) with blueberries, avocado and citrus; Ica (+ 2.4%) highlighting items such as blueberries and citrus fruits, these being the regions with the greatest contribution to said growth

Greater placement of rice

Midagri points out the particular case of paddy rice, which continues to be the main crop that has been sustaining the growth rate of the agricultural sector during this year, with more than 3.026.000 tons produced and a growth of 10% in the first ten months of the year.

Undoubtedly, it is a product that has also had a notorious dynamics in international markets, driven by Midagri's efforts to expand new destination markets, especially the Colombian market, which accounts for 90% of Peruvian cereal exports.

On the other hand, the livestock subsector had a different behavior. For example, chicken production decreased by 1.7% (lower placement of bb chickens from the meat line in Lima, La Libertad and Arequipa), while beef production decreased 3.5% (lower output for consumption in Ayacucho, Cajamarca and Amazon).

However, in recent months it has been observed that chicken production has entered a process of recovering its growth rate and that it is due to the recovery that domestic demand has been showing, thanks to the progressive expansion of the reactivation phases economic and an increase in commercial activity in restaurants for the end of the year.