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By Walker Simon

LIMA, March 15 (Reuters) - The Peruvian government suspended the eradication of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, in a northern region hit by growers' protests, the agriculture minister said on Thursday.

Juan Jose Salazar told Canal N television he signed an accord with coca growers to halt the eradication for at least 10 days in Tocache, a longtime target of U.S.-backed programs to eradicate the crop.

Peru is the world's No. 2 producer of coca leaf and cocaine, after Colombia. The United States has earmarked nearly $500 million in anti-narcotics aid to the country in the past five years.

Under the accord, Peru would suspend the eradication in a coca crop area of about 17,000 acres (7,000 hectares) as the government mapped out the plots legally entitled to grow coca for approved uses, an Agriculture Ministry spokesman said.

The agreement specified the growers would lift roadblocks on a key highway in Tocache, about 350 miles (600 km) north of Lima, Salazar told a news conference late on Thursday.

He noted there had been a "commotion" in the region potentially endangering people's lives. Press reports said there had been a two-day "strike" on on Wednesday and Thursday shutting down many Tocache businesses. A growers' march was shown on television.

In the news conference, Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said he endorsed Salazar's decision to suspend eradication, but stressed it did not mark a setback in the government's anti-narcotics program.

Reflecting Tocache's importance to Washington, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias visited the town two weeks ago for a look at aid projects forming part of a wider plan to reduce coca crops in the region, the Upper Huallaga Valley.

'CRUSH PIT' AREAS EXEMPTED

Exempted from the eradication suspension would be plots found in the vicinity of "crush pits," Salazar said, referring to sites using kerosene and other household chemicals to make raw cocaine paste for processing into cocaine elsewhere.

In his interview on Canal N, Salazar said he did not consult President Alan Garcia on his decision to halt eradication for "10, 12 days" or perhaps even longer.

"I think when a policy doesn't show results, it's necessary to stop, reflect, evaluate and see what corrections need to be made," he said.

"In the last 10 years ... how many millions of dollars have we spent?" Salazar added. "Has that reduced the violence or the area under cultivation? No. It has grown."

Peru grows about 123,500 acres (50,000 hectares) of coca leaf, less than a tenth of which is destined for legally approved uses, the ministry's spokesman said, referring to its use for food processing, medicine and indigenous leaf chewers.

Last year, Peruvian forces eradicated about 25,000 acres(10,000 hectares) of coca leaf farms, the Interior Ministry said. A further 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) of coca leaf areas were replaced by other crops under programs deemed voluntary. (Additional reporting by Marco Aquino)

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