Piura, Peru August 2, 2009

Sun, Aug 02, 2009 at 11:15:06 AM

I am using the opportunity to visit this part of the globe that is performing an important role in the mango production in the world. I arrived in Lima without incident and awaited my flight to Piura later that morning. The morning provided a wonderful chance to contrast impressive views of the upper-most peaks from the Andes with deserts, tropical valleys, dry equatorial forests covered by algarrobos (Prosopis pailida) and trupillos. This is my first time in the dessert. In Colombia, we have the Guajira arid peninsula, but this area is less dry than the Piura dessert.

Piura is a coastal region in northwestern Peru. The area is known for its warm tropical and dry or semi-tropical conditions. The topography is smooth in the coast and rough in the Sierra. There are many arid plains in the southern region. The Sechura Desert, located south of Piura, is Peru's largest desert and one of the world's few examples of a tropical desert.

My friends Angel Gamarra, President of PROMANGO and his wife Elsa Lazaro were waiting for me at the Airport. We had lunch in a typical restaurant where local folkloric dances entertained over a magnificent spread. I had ceviche (a typical Peruvian dish of raw fish with onion in lime sauce).

In the afternoon, I walked around the city, ending up in the Piura open-air market, located downtown. I was hoping to find some ‘Edward’ mangos, but the beginning of August is too soon for this Floridia mango. Still looking for mangos, I saw a few, really poor ‘Edwards’. The fruit were harvested immature and they were using ethylene to get better color on the fruit. This is always the plague of fruit production, a price-driven lowering of quality that ultimately damages the market. At the market they mainly had some selections of banana, plantain, pineapple, assorted citrus, that are in season, asparagus, chilies, and papayas. There were also tamarind and algarrobo candies. The market was rounded out by fish and some household goods.

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