Agricultural exports from Peru were worth US$ 761 million during the first two months of 2014, up 20.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, said on Friday the Peruvian Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry (Minagri).  

Ana Mar�a Deustua, executive director of the Agricultural Producers Guild Association of Peru (AGAP), reported that fruit and vegetable exports during the first two months of the year amounted to U.S. $366 million, 29% more than in the same period in 2013.

She also noted that the percentage increase was above the average annual growth rate achieved in the last ten years (22%). 

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has said his administration plans to invest US$ 35 million in the development of the Madre de Dios region that has been seriously affected by informal and illegal mining.  

The clock has run out for an estimated 40,000 illegal gold miners who had until Saturday to legalize their status in a region of southeastern Peru where fortune-seekers have ravaged rainforests and contaminated rivers. The government's vow to enforce a ban on illegal mining is raising fears of bloody confrontations.  

Peruvian authorities ordered the moving of nearly 28,000 camelids (alpacas and llamas) of the herds that live near the Ubinas volcano because of the seismic activity that has covered their pastures in ash.  

Satellite imagery can be used to predict which volcanoes are most likely to erupt, scientists have found.
Volcano deformation and, in particular, uplift are often considered to be caused by magma moving or pressurising underground, researchers said.  

The Peruvian Amazon is an important arena in global efforts to promote sustainable logging in the tropics. Despite recent efforts to achieve sustainability, such as provisions in the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, illegal logging continues to plague the region.   

The Peruvian government Saturday welcomed the joint statement on Ukraine issued in Geneva, Switzerland on April 17 by that country, Russia, United States and the European Union, urging the parties to de-escalate tensions and restore security for all citizens.  

As one of the most diverse and culturally wealthy countries in the whole of South America, Peru is one of those destinations that offers so much to visitors. But where, what and how do you get the very best of it?

Well our resident luxury travel designer, Anna, went to find out just this in the popular region of Southern Peru. 

They say the world is a book, and those who don't travel only read a page. In December 2012, I made the decision to turn the page and take in as much as I could learn. I've wanted to travel the globe for as long as I can remember, but at the ripe age of 15, I had never only ever traveled outside the U.S. once, to a resort in Mexico.

My adventure began when I signed up for a month-long journey to Peru.

A staple in most pantries, saltines have often been thought of as a cure for nausea. But they've got one more trick up their plastic sleeves: saltine crackers are commonly used to make one of Peru's most popular spicy sauce known as Huanca�na sauce.