China's General Administration of Customs issued an announcement on inspection and quarantine requirements for Peruvian pecan fruits exported to China in early December, and it is expected that Peruvian pecan fruits will soon enter the Chinese market.
There are currently 3,700 hectares of pecan orchards in Peru, which are slowly increasing at a rate of 50-70 hectares per year. Of these, 1,500 hectares (about 41%) of orchards are concentrated in the Ica region, followed by Chincha with about 400 hectares and Pisco with about 250 hectares.
Ysmael Garcia, technical manager of the Peruvian Pecan Union company, said that the Ica region has a large temperature difference between day and night, which is suitable for pecan growth. In 2017, Peru's pecan production reached about 1,000 tons. Production in 2020 was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with production falling to 292 tonnes and 312 tonnes in 2021. Exports recover to about 500-600 tons in 2023.
Ysmael Garcia believes that Peruvian pecan's access to the Chinese market will bring huge benefits to nut producers, which is expected to increase the purchase price of pecan and double the growth rate of fruit tree planting. Before the announcement, the field purchase price of Pygon fruit was only 10-12 sols/kg (about 19.4-23.3 yuan/kg), and immediately rose to 18-20 sols (34.9-38.8 yuan/kg) after the release. But the Peruvian industry still has many challenges to address, not the least of which is the lack of cooperation among farmers.
The crop is mainly grown by small farmers, most of whom have orchards between 5-10 hectares in size. Most of the producers are between 50 and 70 years of age and have only basic or intermediate levels of education. Next, farmers need to move from working alone to working together so that they can supply the crop to large companies, rather than continuing to sell it to small-scale buyers.
At the same time, there is a lack of formal enterprises engaged in the cultivation and export of pecan fruit in Peru, and many enterprises do not last long. The three main companies that still exist today are: Agro Export Topara (organic certified nuts exported to Germany since 2000, with a plantation size of about 50 hectares), Proagro (Agroindustriales SAC), also engaged in blueberries, grapes and avocados, The plant size is about 20 hectares) and the representative family business Santhome (the plant size is about 50 hectares). Ysmael Garcia said these companies are the only ones that can complete the entire production cycle, from planting and picking to processing for export, while the others are just buyers.
Hong Kong is the largest market for Peruvian pecans, accounting for 86% of exports, with the rest going to Germany, Central America and other countries. 98% of the pecan produced in Peru is Mahan, 1% Stuart and 1% other varieties. The Chinese market likes the shape of the Mahan variety, which has an oval shell with pointed ends and is easy to peel.