Farmers in the Valle del Medio, Bajo Piura and Alto Piura expect a 25% drop in production per hectare of rice, as an upward impact and a shortage of fertilizers.
“Productivity could drop between 20% and 25% per hectare, in addition to the planned rice area, 30% less has been planted”explains the manager of the Board of Users of the Middle and Lower Piura, Virgilio Tume Morales.
Per hectare, the expected yield is approximately 8,000 kilos, however, the restricted use of fertilizer would cause it to drop to a production of between 5,000 and 6,000 kilos.
It should be noted that for the big rice campaign it had been planned to plant 10,000 hectares of the cereal, but only about 7,000 were reached in the Middle and Lower Piura valleys.
High Piura
A similar problem will be experienced in the Alto Piura Users’ Board. Production would drop from 220 bags per hectare to about 130 bags at the start of the harvest stage.
“In the regions where there is water availability, although it is true that they have installed a rice area, the issue of fertilization has been quite poor and then there is a decrease in the percentage of production. A situation of market shortages is projected for this product and for legumes as well”said the president of the Board of Users of Alto Piura, Arnulfo Adrianzén.
no girl campaign
Another factor to take into account is that in Bajo Piura and San Lorenzo, they will not plant rice in the second half of the year.
In the meeting of the Middle and Lower Piura, it is the second year of this decision for an agreement between the producers to take care of the water. There will be 2,500 ha of cereal that will not be sown this semester.
“Poechos only stores 445 million cubic meters (MMC), but we are not counting the six years of silting and we calculate that 70 MMC of sediment must have entered”refers Tume.
At the moment, the regulating vessel continues to operate at a height of 104.50 meters above sea level. In this case, the second campaign of the year will only be corn and beans.
“For those who plant rice, with the same humidity as this crop, they are going to plant their corn and beans. Those who leave at the end of June, no longer succeed because the Daniel Escobar channel will be repaired and they have to wait until August to be able to crush “Tume said.
Regarding the purchase of fertilizers announced by the Executive and that would arrive in August, the manager explained that it would be too late for crops such as corn.
“The bean does not take much fertilizer because it has the peculiarity of filtering the nitrogen that is in the environment. 7,000 ha are going to be planted in corn”said.
In the case of maize, fertilizer is needed in July to get a better yield per hectare.
“If you plant with certified corn seeds, you have to fertilize yes or yes, otherwise the yields are very low. At the end of June it would be sown with moisture from the rice. After it is born, you have 12 to 15 days to make the first fertilization. If it doesn’t arrive on time, you are at a disadvantage because they are high-yielding seeds and need high nitrogen intake.”Tume commented.
If the fertilizer arrives in August, as the Executive says, it would be too late.
San Lorenzo
In San Lorenzo, there will also be no second rice campaign due to repairs to the Quiróz canal. In this case, 2,000 ha will not be planted.
“There will be no second campaign, but more than for the price [del fertilizante] It’s because of the water issue. The San Lorenzo reservoir is lacking water and we no longer want to risk it. In addition, the Quiróz canal will be built and then less water will enter and all this will be detrimental, ”says the president of the San Lorenzo Valley Users’ Board, Darío Castillo.
regular planting
For its part, from the Chira Valley Users’ Board, they reported that they did not reduce planting areas in this crisis.
They added that the expectation is to exceed 21,000 ha in this second campaign of the year.
“In this campaign that is going on, there has been no problem with fertilizers in Chira. The program has been carried out normally, but perhaps in the next one, since it already finds the farmers without capital, perhaps there may be a problem installing it”, said the manager of the Chira Valley Users Board, Napoleón Puño.
The planting start date is not yet authorized, he said. In his opinion, there would not be a shortage of cereal.
“At least in Chira, it is planned to plant the hectares that are going to be authorized. This phenomenon could not occur in Piura. It is probable that in some sectors of the country rice is not planted due to this issue of fertilizer and rather the farmer may obtain more important prices at the field level”, held.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation plans to deliver the fertilizer it buys in the fortnight of August.
Farmers with less than five hectares must register in the National Survey of Sowing Intentions to receive the fertilizer through regional directorates and agencies.
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