Following the Water Uphill? The Spread of Blueberry Cultivation to the Mountains of Áncash, Peru / ¿Siguiendo el agua cuesta arriba? La expansión del cultivo del arándano en la sierra de Áncash, Perú

Abstract

jlag Perspectives Landscape observers in Peru’s Áncash region have been concerned for over a decade about the impact of climate change on the shrinking glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca and the Santa River watershed (Bury et al., 2013). However, the Santa River valley, which is known locally as Callejón de Huaylas and is one of Peru’s most important Inter-Andean valleys, has been experiencing a second dramatic landscape change that has gone mostly unnoticed by outsiders. It has rapidly become covered by huge swathes of whiteplasticusedintheconstructionofhigh tunnels for blueberry production (Figure 1).1 Primarily for export, this production is transformingresourceuseaswellasvalleyaesthet ics ,withimpactsfordiversesectorsofsociety inÁncash.Furthermore,itsuggestspotential new trends in global agro-exports. CommercialblueberryproductioninPeru began in 2007 and has expanded rapidly throughanationalcampaignsince2012:from 50 hectares (ha) cultivated in 2012 to more than 18,000 ha in 2022 (Cordano, 2016; León Following the Water Uphill? The Spread of Blueberry Cultivation to the Mountains of Áncash, Peru¿Siguiendo el agua cuesta arriba? La expansión del cultivo del arándano en la sierra de Áncash, Perú Martha G. Bell Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Karl S. Zimmerer Pennsylvania State University and CEFE-University of Montpellier Odolin Saturnino Rodríguez Tinoco Institución Educativa 86648, Santo Domingo de Guazman - Yungay JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY 22(1), 1–11 Carrasco,2023).Blueberriesarecurrentlythe agro-export crop that generates the highest sales. In 2022, sales totaled US$ 1,435 million, approximately 14 percent of Peru’s total agro-export sales (Agraria.pe, 2023). Peru has also become the world’s leading exporter of the fruit (freshfruitportal.com, 2023), producing more than 276,000 metric tons in 2022 (Agraria.pe, 2023). This has corresponded to the larger expansion of “non-traditional agricultural exports” (NTAEs) across Latin America, which, beginning in the 1990s, saw production booms of grapes, avocados, mangos, asparagus, and other crops along Peru’s desert coast. This growth has depended on large-scale agribusiness and government investments in irrigation projects and “technified” agriculture as well as inexpensive labor and new trade and legal arrangements (Williams & Murray, 2019; Lombana, 2020; Crespi, 2022). Peru’s blueberry boom depends on distinctive varietal management and new geographic strategies for production. In 2023, the most prevalent blueberry varieties included Emerald and Biloxi, which are extra-large, firm, sweet, crunchy varieties that can survive cold storage and shipping (Ilyas, 2023). These are so-called zero or low chill varieties, which require reduced hours at cool temperatures (below 7 oC) compared to other varieties, and are thus suitable for Peru’s warmer temperatures (especially on the coast but also in the CalleFigure 1. Blueberries cultivated in high tunnels near Caraz, Áncash, Peru (Photograph by Marcia Castromonte, February 17, 2023). 2 Journal of Latin American Geography jón de Huaylas). In addition to these properties , which are common to agro-exports, blueberry expansion has required transforming new geographic spaces by subsuming previously “underutilized” lands into the agro-export model. While in previous agro-export growth these spaces have typicallybeenlocatedonPeru ’sdesertcoast,now itishigheraltitudezones,andspecificallythe inter-Andean valleys of Áncash, La Libertad, Cajamarca, and Piura—which are characterized by more abundant surface water, gentle rainfall, absence of frosts, and available land and labor—that are targeted for blueberry production (Cordano, 2016; Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria del Perú, 2019). We focusourdescriptiononalltheseproduction factors, with special attention to the role of water availability in the upslope spaces. The cultivation of blueberries in Inter-Andean valleys has mainly occurred near the city of Caraz, which is located in the relatively wide, flat-bottomed Santa River valley known as Callejón de Huaylas. The Santa River is fed by glacier meltwater flowing down from the Cordillera Blanca, which contains some of the most important tropical glaciers in the world. During the twentieth century, agriculturalists in the Caraz area, including indigenous peasant communities (Comunidades Campesinas) as well as smallholders and medium-size farms, used irrigation to grow products for national markets. These included purple-kernel maize (maíz morado) used for the chicha morada beverage , Andean amaranth (kiwicha), artichokes, green beans, snow peas, and flowers. The surge of blueberry producFigure 2. High tunnels for blueberry growing in the valley bottom of Callejón de Huaylas, Áncash...