Clara Beltrán, foreign trade advisor of the European country, said: Spain can help drive the development of organic production in Peru
Despite the fact that the situation that Spain is going through is complicated at the moment due to the Covid-19, it is still true that it will remain an important place for the Peruvian food trade. Clara Beltrán, foreign trade advisor of the Spanish embassy in our country, considers that the mutual relevance of both countries in terms of economy will be increasing.
The official explained that there are opportunities in the European country for organic products, an area in which the Old Continent has been a pioneer in terms of regulation. These are norms that, he observes, also exist in the Peruvian market and allow promoting the sustainable and competitive development of organic production hand in hand with central planning, regional governments, and local governments in coordination with private organizations and institutions.
He recalled that in Peru the work of certifying organic production is in charge of Senasa and that there are also private certifiers such as the Spanish CAAE, which has specialized in this type of production for several years, both in Europe and here.
However, he did not fail to observe that for organic producers who cannot access to cover the costs of this type of certification, there is an alternative way, which is the Participatory Guarantee System that emerged as an initiative for small family farming and is free.
"Peru is one of the main centers of biodiversity on the planet, the demand for products such as quinoa, asparagus, blueberries or avocado are high in the international market. With these characteristics it has clear advantages in agricultural production and that can be extrapolated to organic or ecological production, ”he said.
In fact, the demand for organic products, he stressed, has grown significantly in high-income markets such as the United States and Europe. In this block, a Eurostat report revealed that this food line is well regarded and in fact 78% of respondents considered that they responded to better environmental practices, 70% that they are safer for health, 76% that they respect the environmental standards and 72% that are of better quality.
For this reason, Clara Beltrán considered that Spain can be an important support to prop up Peruvian organic production through the transmission of her experience as a leading agricultural protagonist through various services such as consulting, specialized professionals and machinery.
"It can contribute to the technification of crops, the improvement of irrigation systems (so as not to salinize the soils) and the application of new techniques of intensive cultivation (such as producing in controlled environments)," he explained.
"We must take advantage of organic farming that is a source of important economic growth, identify its challenges, strategies to follow to build a profitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly sector, giving continuity to farmers and consumers," he concluded.
Date
In Peru there are more than 90 thousand organic producers, which have more than 300 thousand hectares of agricultural area.
ARTÍCULOS RELACIONADOS
