Peru Expands its Blueberry Industry

Peruvian Agricultural Minister Joe Hernandez claimed at a congressional meeting in Lima on October 12 that, with recent growth, Peru could lead the world in blueberry exportation within the next two years. The claim came in an announcement regarding the future of Peruvian agriculture and the Ministry’s goals regarding rural poverty and trade. Peru’s agricultural exports consist mainly of sugarcane and coffee; however, as the report indicates, this could change moving forward. The nation enjoys free trade with the United States and recently generated agricultural trade relations with Colombia among others, allowing for the high expected rates of future blueberry exports.

The United States currently leads the world’s blueberry production, followed by Canada and Chile. However, the United States also imports 235 million pounds of blueberries to satiate its burgeoning appetite for the fruit. In fact, the primary destination of 2016’s 3,600-ton crop was the United States. Peru hopes to carve out its own position in the market alongside Chile and Canada.

Hernandez sees the blueberry taking the position of Peru’s third largest export, noting that production quadrupled from 2015. Hernandez attributed much of the recent growth to the success of the Peru Berries program and access to new international markets. “Our goal is to achieve GDP growth of at least four percent and to double agricultural exports to the US $10 billion by 2021,” claimed Hernandez.

The rest of Hernandez’s announcement consisted mainly of goals for the future of rural poverty prevention and economic development. The Minister discussed the launch of the Sierra Azul program among others aimed at prosperity and security in the Andean regions of the country.

Peru’s agricultural sector currently composes 13 percent of the nation’s GDP but employs 30 percent of the country’s workforce. With the implementation of new programs and goals as well as the growth of blueberry production, the Peruvian government hopes to increase agriculture’s importance to the national GDP and increase employment. Thankfully, the dependence of countries such as the United States on the fruit has opened the door to the development of Peru’s rural economy.