The Alpaquitay Association is born: Alliance to improve alpaca fiber
Through the joint work between the Peruvian company Suritex, and the alpaca producers from Chicche, Apata and the heights of Concepción in Junín, the Alpaquitay Association was formed last weekend, a space for collaboration between alpaca breeders and private companies , to improve the productive chain of alpaca fiber.
The association is made up of approximately fifty alpaca breeders, who have established a board of directors with the purpose of coordinating work to strengthen capacities in the breeding of alpacas, the goal is to improve the quality of the fiber in the Valle del Mantaro.
A second call is scheduled for the 26th, where it is planned to establish a cycle of technical presentations to boost production.
The improvement in production would lead to the consolidation of national and international markets. Therefore, the planned trainings will focus on the genetic improvement of herds of alpacas and the selection of the fiber.
Master Sorter
Within the alpaca fiber production chain, one of the most complex processes is fiber classification, a task that generally falls to expert classifiers, usually women. These professionals transmit their knowledge from generation to generation, who through the inheritance of other classifiers preserve this knowledge and the recognition of a new classifier is based on their training period and the approval given by their classifier mentor.
To learn how to classify alpaca fiber, a training of at least 2 years is required. For this reason, Suritex plans to bring in a master grader to establish the first group of female master graders in the Mantaro Valley. “There are good sorters in Puno, Cuzco and Arequipa, the idea is to bring a master sorter and have two students who can learn and help sort the fiber,” said Gregor Brenner.
Fountain: Infoandes
