A Peruvian ministry says an extraordinarily strong El Niño could reduce the country's export-oriented avocado crop by 10%, but an industry group has emphasized the effects will not be felt this season.

The Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (Minagri) expects more than 3,000 hectares of the in-demand crop could be lost as a result of the event, newspaper El Comercio reported.

Minagri said the losses would mainly be due to the appearance of mold caused by heavy rains along the Peruvian coast. the story reported.

The ministry has forecast 1,146ha will be lost in the department of La Libertad, with significant impacts as well in Lima (412ha), Piura (269ha), Áncash (253ha) and Ica (247ha).

Prohass general manager Arturo Medina told the publication the sector was still waiting for confirmation of the weather phenomenon over the coming months, in order to predict future actions.

Medina told El Comercio the current campaign would have similar production to last year's, with 164,000 metric tons (MT).

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