The outlook is uncertain for planting of the 1998 cereal and potato crops currently underway. Heavy rains are reported since December all over the country, resulting in flooding and landslides in the northern, central and south-eastern parts of the country. The rains have become even more intensive in late January and are particularly affecting the large rice producing areas of the northern coastal province of Piura. Important banana plantations and other food and cash crops, like cotton, are also grown in this area. Further north, in the province of Tumbes, heavy rains are also reported and could affect the important banana plantations also grown in this province. Serious damage has been incurred to housing and infrastructure in the northern departments of Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque, Cajamarca and La Libertad, and the central department of Ancash. In the south, the departments of Arequipa, Ayacucho, Apumirac, and Huanvelica were also affected by the heavy rains, as well as the interior departments of Cusco and Puno. Landslides are reported with heavy casualties. Emergency measures have been adopted by the Government and a request for international assistance has been made. Intensive precipitation is also reported in the northern mountain range but with no damage to the important potato crops grown in these altitudes.