- June 21, 2021
- Posted by: medium
- Category: National
In the country there are 52,277 certified hectares, of which 42,864 are organic and 9,413 are in transition.
On June 9, an Ecuadorian company exported for the first time a container of organic cocoa toAustria.ProEcuadorHe indicated that the operation was carried out with the support of the Ecuadorian commercial office in Turkey, and kept the name of the companies involved in the negotiation confidential. However, Ecuador exporting organic products is not an isolated or recent fact.
According to the report, from June 2020, DG Agriculture and Rural Development de la European Commission, Ecuador ranks fourth among the ten countries big players exporters of organic products to the European Union, and second place among exporting countries of tropical fruits, nuts and spices.
Exports of these items have increased by10,1 %between the years2018and2019. And it also occupies first place among exporting countries of vegetable preparations, tropical fruits and nuts, with an increase in20,6 %of its sales to the European Union in 2018 and 2019.
Ecuador has103 companies exporting organic productsthat are destined for the European Union. The destination country with the largest amount of organic products exported from Ecuador isNetherlands (21.74%), followed byItalia (20,92 %),Ireland (17.55%)andGermany (14.17%).
According to Alonso Donoso, technical analyst of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG)The organic products that are most exported are bananas, fine aroma cocoa, CCN51 cocoa, quinoa and sugar cane.
“Currently, organic bananas represent the10 %of the total banana production planted in the country: they have19.082 ha; and organic cocoa represents the3,78 %of the total area planted with cocoa in Ecuador: they register18.879 ha"Donoso mentioned, based on 2020 figures from thePhyto and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad).
About it, Francisco Miranda, president of the National Association of Cocoa and Industrialized Exporters of Ecuador (Anecacao), cataloged organic cocoa as “a strange line that is being walked” and confirmed that its production is still very marginal.
He explained that much of the organic cocoa available is produced on very old farms with outdated agricultural models, in which nothing is done other than harvesting, which generates low productivity; Although he acknowledged that modern organic farming methods are beginning to be applied to crops, with good yields, but these are still isolated cases.
“Much of organic production limits the producer's work methodology, and this is reflected in very low productivity when modern techniques are not applied,” analyzed the leader, who nevertheless recognized that it is a market with great potential and good demand, with improved prices.
The case of bananas is different.José Antonio Hidalgo, president of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), indicated that, during the last six years, the export of organic bananas has had a growing trend.
“At the end of 2020, organic bananas reached7,2 %"And it is expected to remain above 7% during 2021," said Hidalgo, who pointed out that the Atlantic coast of the United States is the main destination for the fruit, followed by the north of the European Union, and so far This year, almost five million boxes have already been exported.
In this regard, Donoso added that organic Ecuadorian bananas have represented between 90% and 98% of total exports of this type of product to the European Union in the last three years.
“In exports of organic products from Ecuador to the European Union in the years 2018 and 2019, organic bananas represented respectively 46.4% and 44.5% of the total production,” specified the official, who pointed out that in the In 2018, 596,239 metric tons were produced and 276,879 were exported, and in 2019, 684,579 metric tons were produced and 304,297 were exported, which represents a 14.8% increase in annual production and a 9.9% increase in annual exports.
However, organic production in Ecuador is not only limited to bananas and cocoa.
According to Donoso, in the country there are52,277 certified hectares, of which 42,864 are organic and 9,413 are in transition from conventional to organic agriculture. In this way, organic food production represents only the1 % (52.277 ha)of theagricultural area (5'110,549 ha).
There are also 45 operators with processor scope and 13 organic marketers registered. “In the world and in Ecuador, organic producers and products tend to grow,” said Donoso.
He added that until last April there was a record of14,933 producers, wild collectors, organic processors and marketers; Of these, 672 operators have an individual registration and 14,261 producers are grouped in a total of 69 group registrations between associations, federations, and corporations.
The provinces with the largest organic productive area in hectares are Guayas (15,211), El Oro (9,262) and Esmeraldas (8,757). The provinces that group the largest number of organic producers are Napo (3,334), Guayas (1,782), Loja (1,409), Chimborazo (1,335), Zamora Chinchipe (1,239), Manabí (1,199), Esmeraldas (1,171) and Pichincha (1,045). ); The rest is distributed in other provinces of the country.
He highlighted that since July 2013, through theMinisterial Agreement No. 299, the MAG is the National Authority for the Promotion of organic production in Ecuador, which works on the implementation of the Strategic Plan to Promote Organic Production, based on the guidelines of theInter-American Commission on Organic Agriculture (CIAO), technical platform made up of 19 member countries.
“With the implementation of the Strategic Plan, the MAG intends to give a new and strong impulse to the comprehensive development of organic agriculture, for sustainable growth,” said Donoso, who assured that the expectation of the State portfolio is to achieve greater increase of this activity with a long-term goal,2030.