The Piura Regional Directorate of Agriculture (DRAP) in northern Peru is set to apply a pest and disease alert system for growers, website Agraria.pe reported.

DRAP representatives told the website the system was developed by the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) and would help protect farmers from large losses.

IICA-Peru technological innovation specialist Erika Soto Cardenas, said all growers needed to play their part in the health alert system so that new pests or diseases could be identified and controlled early to avoid or reduce crop damages.

"The support of the regional government, through the Piura Regional Directorate of Agriculture, will bring sustainability to the project, as this institution has information on crops, pests and diseases that have affected the agricultural sector in the region," Soto Cardenas was quoted as saying.

The Piura zone is known as the country's key export area for bananas and mangoes, and also has an early grape volume presence as well as other commercial crops such as avocados, lemons, coffee, rice, cotton and corn.

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