Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0286/02861.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 29KB | 461 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02861}
$Pretitle{242}
$Title{Peru
Chapter 3C.   Cropping Patterns and Production}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Darrel R. Eglin}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{production
oil
exports
tons
fish
mining
1970s
late
million
cotton}
$Date{1980}
$Log{}
Country:     Peru
Book:        Peru, A Country Study
Author:      Darrel R. Eglin
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1980

Chapter 3C.   Cropping Patterns and Production

     Corn is the most important crop in terms of acreage, occupying an
estimated 360,000 hectares in 1979, and production amounted to 600,000 tons
(see table 7; table 8, Appendix). It was planted in all three regions but the
bulk of the acreage was in the Sierra. Productivity was much higher in the
small area in the Costa, however, because fields were irrigated. Potatoes are
the other main food crop and also the most important of all crops in terms of
value. In 1979 potato acreage amounted to 225,000 hectares, primarily in the
Sierra and production amounted to 1.4 million tons. Corn and potatoes have
been traditional staples in the national diet supplemented in particular
regions by wheat, barley, native grains, sweet potatoes, cassava, and other
tuberous plants.

     In the Sierra the farmers use traditional, time-tested techniques for
planting and harvesting crops. Productivity is low and yields stagnant. The
Costa, in contrast, contains nearly all of the modern, high-yield, commercial
farming. Although accounting for only a little more than 20 percent of all
cropland, the Costa produced nearly 40 percent of the gross value of
agricultural output in the 1970s. In produced nearly all of the sugarcane and
the bulk of the cotton, both major export products, as well as important
shares of rice, corn, and fruits for domestic consumption. Much of production
was concentrated on large farms and former estates and dependent on wage
labor. Labor was imported until the late 1880s. Since then mechanization has
increased, reducing the permanent labor force in the 1970s to less than 5
percent of the rural population. Seasonal wage labor was also employed,
largely from the Sierra.

     Sugarcane was one of the Costa's and the country's important crops.
Introduced by the Spanish, it has been grown since colonial times. Peru's
climate, along with irrigation, permits year-round harvesting and
exceptionally high yields when there is sufficient water. Labor requirements
are relatively stable throughout the year. Production of sugarcane had spread
all along the coastal valleys until the late 1800s when production became
concentrated in the northern valleys. Production and processing of sugarcane
yielded economies of scale, permitting the concentration of production in a
few large plantations before 1968. The plantations were exempted in the 1964
land reform law but were a primary target in the 1969 law. They were rapidly
expropriated and turned into large and usually successful cooperatives. A
government agency supervised planning, production, and investment in the
cooperatives to maintain sugar exports.

     Sugarcane acreage expanded substantially in this century, particularly in
the early years. More recently expansion slowed. The area planted increased
from 80,000 hectares in 1961 to 97,000 hectares in 1971. By 1979 acreage
planted was down to 92,000 hectares. Production of sugar peaked in 1974 at
just over 1 million tons and then declined to about 750,000 tons in 1979 and
an estimated 685,000 tons in 1980, a level of that of the early 1950s. Sugar
exports amounted to 181,000 tons (approximately US $37 million) in 1979, the
smallest exports since the 1940s. The prolonged drought in the late 1970s
accounted for part of the decline in production, but observers noted that the
industry had other problems as well. In late 1979 a special commission was
appointed to recommend measures to restore production. In 1979, as efforts
were made to maintain exports, sugar for the domestic market was in short
supply, causing long lines and rationing in Lima. By 1980 Peru was close to
requiring sugar imports if the drought continued, and the structural problems
in the industry were not corrected.

     Cotton is the other major export crop from the Costa. Since the American
Civil War, it has at times been the most important export, often alternating
with sugar. Commercial cotton growing began as a plantation operation using
slave labor. When slaves and Chinese coolie labor were prohibited in the
latter part of the 1800s, cotton production was reorganized by estate owners
and based on sharecropping to meet the large labor requirements. Many small
farmers in the Costa also raised cotton. Peru's cotton is mainly the
long-staple variety.

     Over the last 100 years cotton production expanded largely as a result of
extension of irrigation that permitted new land to be cultivated, although at
times relative prices caused switching of irrigated fields into and out of
cotton. By the early 1960s nearly all of the land in the Costa that could be
irrigated was already under cultivation. Cotton acreage peaked in the early
1960s, amounting to 275,000 hectares in 1962 and production of raw cotton to
about 400,000 tons. Changing world market conditions and the movement of
internal prices caused a sharp reduction in cotton acreage and production in
the 1960s and 1970s as former cotton fields were switched to food crops. By
1976 cotton acreage was 96,000 hectares, and production of cotton lint was
57,000 tons. In the late 1970s higher government cotton prices along with a
prolonged drought caused cotton acreage to increase at the expense primarily
of corn and rice plantings. In 1979 cotton was planted on 130,000 hectares and
lint production amounted to 90,000 tons.

     Since the 1950s the area planted in coffee trees, in the lower elevations
of the Sierra and the Upper Selva, has grown rapidly. By the late 1970s coffee
exports were the most important among agricultural commodities. Acreage went
from 77,000 hectares in 1960 to 130,000 hectares in 1979, not counting recent
plantings that had not yet begun to produce. Coffee production rose from
57,000 tons in 1976 to 76,000 tons in 1979. Domestic consumption accounted for
only a small part of production, largely that of the poorest quality. Coffee
exports rose from 44,000 tons in 1977 to 69,000 tons in 1979 (worth US $207
million). Peru was a member of the international coffee agreement under which
quotas constrained production and exports. An outbreak of coffee rust was
reported in 1979 that posed a long-term threat if not controlled.

     The range of environmental conditions permitted cultivation of a wide
range of crops including citrus fruits, grapes, tropical fruits, nuts, tea,
cocoa, tobacco, and numerous vegetables. Climate conditions were not favorable
for grains and feed, however, and imports supplied about half of consumption
in the late 1970s. Rice production normally met domestic demand of about
400,000 tons a year, but the drought since 1977 required imports of about
200,000 tons in 1980. Wheat is the main grain import because the country has
few localities suitable for its cultivation. In the late 1970s consumption was
around 900,000 tons a year, almost all of which was imported. The drought also
caused imports of other grains and feed to rise.

     Although the country has a large livestock and poultry sector, production
of meat and dairy products has not kept pace with population growth and the
desire for improved diets. In the late 1970s imports of meat and animals
remained small, however, because of balance of payments problems, creating
shortages in the domestic market. Livestock raising faced many difficulties,
such as inadequate pastures, poor range management, lack of feed, and price
controls that were disincentives to upgrading stock and grazing land. By the
late 1970s the government was modifying policies and instituting programs to
increase meat, fiber, and dairy production, but substantial improvement would
require t