As the Agrarian Law in Peru continues to affect the fruit and vegetable sector, investments in Hass avocados are coming to a halt, according to an industry member.

Daniel Bastamente Canny, Director of the Hass Avocado Growers Association (ProHass), told the Peruvian news site Agraria.pe, "under the previous Agrarian Promotion Law, which was enacted in December of 2020, each year between 1,000 and 1,500 new hectares of Hass avocados were harvested, however, with the new law this will be affected".

Currently, "there are very few companies that are investing in Hass avocados. The companies that had investment plans have canceled them," Bastamente said.

"Investments have come to a standstill and those that will be carried out are the few that had already made non-refundable payments that have to be moved forward with. However, without a doubt, there has been a significant slow down due to this new law", he said.

Production of 2021 will be estimated within 10 days

Regarding this year's production, Bastamente said that "we will have the first estimate within 10 days, and this is the one that will be reported to the markets".

The ProHass representative said that "for the 2021 season there will be an increase in volume compared to 2020 when 365,000 tons of Hass avocados were shipped.

"This increase in volume will be due to the immaturity of some plantations that will produce more than they produced last year, due to the cycle that the plants have."

"These young plantations are mainly concentrated in the northern part of Peru in Olmos, the Lambayeque province," he said.