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概要：概要：文章讲述了秘鲁如何发展蓝莓产业，迅速跻身世界第一蓝莓出口国的故事，提到了中国巨大的市场，以及未来可能面临的气候风险。

The sweet story of Peru’s blueberry boom 

秘鲁蓝莓热潮的甜蜜故事

Plucky farmers have transformed the market in only ten years 

勇敢的农民在短短十年内改变了市场

September 12th 2024

Peru’s blueberry harvest is just beginning, and Ivan Jauregui, an agronomist, looks excited. At a farm he oversees about 100km north of Lima, the capital, workers are gently twisting the fruit from their bushes. Staff in a newly built packing-plant load the best berries into refrigerated shipping containers, then pack them off to the port of Callao. Mr Jauregui says he once squeezed 35 tonnes of blueberries from a single hectare of land; he is always hoping to beat this record. “Every year we have to grow and improve,” he says.

秘鲁的蓝莓收获季刚刚开始，农学家Ivan Jauregui看起来很兴奋。在首都利马以北约 100 公里处他监管的一个农场里，工人们正轻轻地从灌木丛中摘下蓝莓。在一座新建的包装工厂里，员工们将最好的蓝莓装入冷藏运输集装箱，然后运往Callao港。Jauregui说，他曾经从一公顷土地上收获了 35 吨蓝莓；他希望能打破这个纪录。“我们每年都要成长和进步，” 他说。

Peru caught blueberry fever a little over a decade ago. Farmers noticed that their counterparts in Chile were making a lot of money selling the fruit during the off-season in the United States, when prices are high. They sought to do the same—and things have worked out better than anyone dared hope. Back in 2013 Peruvians earned about $17m exporting blueberries; by last year receipts had soared to $1.7bn. In 2019 Peru became the world’s single biggest exporter of fresh blueberries. Nowadays it sends more than twice as many berries abroad as its closest rivals.

大约十年多前，秘鲁兴起了蓝莓热。农民们注意到智利农民在美国淡季销售蓝莓赚了很多钱，那时价格很高。他们也想这么做 —— 结果超过任何人的想象。2013 年，秘鲁蓝莓出口收入约 1700 万美元；到去年飙升至 17 亿美元。2019 年，秘鲁成为世界上最大的新鲜蓝莓出口国。如今，秘鲁蓝莓出口数量是其第二名竞争对手的两倍多。

The country owes much of its success to novel kinds of blueberry bush. Historically the fruit has grown well only in places with chilly winters. Peru’s blue revolution relies on newfangled “low chill” varieties, developed in the United States, that thrive on Peru’s coast. The International Blueberry Organisation, an industry group, says that in 2022 the yield of a typical Peruvian blueberry farm was nearly double the global average (which is nine tonnes per hectare). Julio Zavala of Fall Creek, an American breeder of blueberries, reckons it takes only about two years for a new farm in Peru to start turning a profit. In other places four years is more common.

秘鲁的成功在很大程度上归功于新型蓝莓丛。从历史上看，蓝莓只在冬季寒冷的地方生长良好。秘鲁的蓝莓产业革命依靠美国开发的新型“低寒” 品种，这些蓝莓品种可以在秘鲁海岸茁壮成长。国际蓝莓组织（一个行业组织）表示，2022 年一个典型的秘鲁蓝莓农场的产量几乎是全球平均水平（每公顷 9 吨）的两倍。美国蓝莓育种商 Fall Creek 的Julio Zavala认为，秘鲁一个新农场只需大约两年就能盈利。在其他地方大约需要四年。

Blueberry farmers have also gained from trends that have boosted all manner of Peruvian produce. These include tax breaks and irrigation megaprojects that have opened up land along Peru’s desert coastline. Between 2000 and 2023, total annual Peruvian farm exports grew 16-fold to $10.5bn. “It’s mind-bending,” said Rafael Zacnich of Comex, Peru’s international trade association. Yet blueberries remain “by far” the most profitable crop, reckons Percy Muente of Agrícola Cerro Prieto, a big agricultural group that employs Mr Jauregui. If his firm still grows avocados and asparagus, that is in part because it does not want to place all its berries in one basket, he says.

蓝莓种植者也受益于各种秘鲁农产品的推动政策。这些趋势包括税收减免和大型灌溉项目，这些项目开辟了秘鲁沙漠海岸线沿线的土地。2000 年至 2023 年，秘鲁农产品年出口总额增长了 16 倍，达到 105 亿美元。“这令人难以置信，” 秘鲁国际贸易协会 Comex 的Rafael Zacnich说。然而，Jauregui供职的农业集团 Agrícola Cerro Prieto 的Percy Muente认为，到目前为止，蓝莓仍然是最赚钱的作物。他说，如果他的公司仍然种植鳄梨和芦笋，部分原因是不想把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里。

Boosters promise more growth. The world’s taste for blueberries is increasing. Peruvian exporters have their eye on China, which produces plenty of its own berries but which could eat a lot more. And there is additional land in Peru that could be used to grow the fruit, if politicians and investors bless the big infrastructure projects needed to water them.

支持者承诺会有更多的增长。全世界的蓝莓需求在增加。秘鲁出口商把目光投向了中国，中国自己的蓝莓产量很高，但消费量更高。Jauregui指出，如果政治家和投资者支持灌溉所需的大型基础设施项目，秘鲁还有更多的土地可以用来种植蓝莓。

Yet in future growers will also have to swerve a handful of risks. Last year extreme weather stole a big chunk of Peru’s production (though its income from exports continued soaring, because global prices shot up). It was not the only country to suffer, but the sticky experience has accelerated efforts to identify and spread varieties that might cope better with climate change. And farmers in lots of other places fancy a slice of Peru’s blueberry pie, notes Mr Jauregui. “Colombia, Morocco: everyone is growing blueberries now.” ■

然而，未来种植者也必须避开一些风险。去年，极端天气夺走了秘鲁很大一部分的产量（尽管因为全球价格上涨，其出口收入继续飙升）。秘鲁不是唯一遭受损失的国家，但这次棘手的经历让秘鲁人加速识别和推广可能更好应对气候变化的品种。Jauregui指出，许多其他国家的农民也想种植蓝莓。“哥伦比亚、摩洛哥：现在每个人都在种植蓝莓。”