Isolation of Nariño mainly hits agriculture in the region

The closure due to landslides on the Pan-American highway, which has completed almost a week, has left the department of Nariño incommunicado, giving way to difficulties in agriculture, especially in potato and pea crops and milk production. The consequences are focused on the supply of the country and specifically of the Valley, which is one of the departments that is supplied from this department.

(Read: After the closure of the Pan-American highway: the rise in the price of food).

According to Jorge Bedoya, president of the Colombian Farmers Society (SAC), this situation may influence the perishing of crops and the increase in prices due to a lower supply, and the cost of freight through alternate highways, such as the Mocoa highway, which will be more expensive.

For his part, Germán Palacio, general manager of Fedepapa, stated that the closure of the Panamericana affects the production of the harvest in the south of the country, taking into account that it is the one that supplies the first five months of the year in the national production. “Currently around 600,000 tons come out in the first five and a half months, that is to say that on average there are more than 100,000 tons per month. This week in the region 25,000 tons remained unharvested“, said.

Additionally, the manager indicated that there are two alarming factors and that is that when the harvest remains in the region, theProducers stop planting which causes a loss in the quality of the potato and it also foresees that in the event that the road is enabled, the dammed product ends up leaving, which gives way to a drop in price, with which producers would not have a way to recover the cost of production.

(See: ‘Springboard of death’: crossing to leave Cauca by alternate route).

Looking towards the milk sector, Felipe Pinilla, president of the National Association of Milk Producers (Analac), told Portafolio that only in Nariño, the raw milk production can be more than 800,000 liters per day, of which the industry collects more than 380,000 daily. “A part stays in the local consumer market and another important part goes to be processed and marketed in Cauca, Valle and other departments of the country,” he said.

Pinilla also said that the closure of the Pan-American highway and the maintenance of the Mocoa highway are preventing the output of that production, “which implies lower income for the producer in Nariño and supply complications in markets that depend on agricultural production from the department”, he explained.

This fact will also affect pea crops. According to Henry Vanegas, general manager of Fenalce, Nariño is the most specialized area and it is sensitive because the production is fresh. “The difficulties are seen because the producers would not have anywhere to store or preserve the quality of the grain while there is a road. Not only is the supply of the cities affected, but also the conservation of the pea, which has an especially repercussion on the prices that could show rises,” Vanegas said.

(Keep reading: Fears increase among ranchers due to the closure of the Pan-American highway).

For Jorge Bedoya, the fruit sector is also affected since the fruits do not arrive in good condition, which reflects a negative effect for the producers and for the people who buy from them.

DIANA K. RODRIGUEZ T.