The presence of El Niño in Peru this winter has had a moderate impact on mango growers with delayed flowering, but the country's industry body does not expect any critical effects.

Peruvian Association of Mango Growers and Producers (APEM) president Juan Rivera tells www.freshfruitportal.com while there was a slight delay in the flowering of plants, this would likely correct itself during the spring.

He says the flowering for Peru's Kent, Haden and Tommy Atkins varieties usually occurs between July and August, while it comes a bit earlier for Edward mangoes.

He highlights the Kent mango, which has the biggest presence in Peru, is sensitive to to climatic variation.

"Proof of that was the poor flowering last year," he says.

"There are agricultural techniques to manage the phenological cycle, so some medium-to-large growers will have production that is either delayed or advanced in this cycle, depending on their business strategies.

"There is a proportion of small growers who lack the means and the technology, who will have their production in line with the natural cycle of the trees."

He says temperatures were slightly higher than average in June but were closer to the average in July, leading to the flowering of plants.

"We will have to wait for the rest of winter and spring to see how these climatic variables will behave. We trust they will be benign according to the latest reports from the agencies that monitor them.

He emphasizes that grower will not necessarily be concerned about the effects of El Niño.

"There is flowering and we expect that the rains will behave as in previous events, starting when there is a good percentage of our fruit already harvested.

"In addition, we consider these rains beneficial because they keep the basins wet and fill the basins."

He adds APEM had a weather and export information network that is hoped will help improve the industry's performance.

While he cannot estimate mango volumes at this stage, he believes there will be good production this year.

In 2011-12 the industry produced 150,000 metric tons (MT) of which 70,000MT was exported, with the U.S. as the main destination at 60%, followed by Europe (35%).

www.freshfruitportal.com