Representatives of ASOEX and of the Association of Producers and Exporters of the Agricultural Valley of Copiapó (APECO) discussed the situation of the fruit sector in the Region of Atacama, specifically of the Valley of Copiapó, during a meeting.
In this regard, Ronald Bown said ASOEX was supporting the farmers in Atacama, conducting meetings and coordinating with the authorities to find solutions soon, especially with regard to the channelling of the Copiapó river and different irrigation systems.
He also stated that he, together with the Minister of agriculture, Carlos Furche and other authorities related to various services, would be visiting the Region of Atacama again on Thursday 16 and Friday, April 17, with the purpose of analysing the producers’ situation and the coordination of actions on-site.
For his part, Lina Arrieta, President of APECO, announced the results of the first diagnosis of the agricultural sector in the area. "The situation in the Region of Atacama is serious. Of the nine communes in the region, five were seriously damaged by floods and only four of them suffered mild effects. We perform a cadastre of 32 partner companies, including 8 companies that aren't part of APECO, but that are also within the Valley, for a total initial diagnosis of 40 producers and exporters, which allowed us to determine that there were around 2,000 people working the fields when the floods occurred, 22 of which suffered some kind of injury and, unfortunately, one of them died and another worker is still missing. In this sense, the first task of APECO, and of our partners, has been to contain and support our employees with food and shelter."
The representative of APECO added that, at the moment of the floods, there was a total of 3,320 people hired by the 40 companies registered with them, and that 44 people had lost their homes, while another 203 people had partial losses. "We know it's very sad losing your home and your belongings, as they are the result of a lifetimes effort, so we will continue supporting our workers."
Agricultural impact
Regarding the productive field, Lina Arrieta said that, "the 40 companies surveyed have a total of 5,613 productive hectares in the Valley of Copiapó, 2,706 hectares of which were affected by the floods, i.e. 48% of the surface according to this first analysis."
Arrieta added that 2,123 hectares, of the 2,706 hectares affected, could be recovered. "However there are 1,500 hectares that can only be recovered if the irrigation systems are fixed, as soon as possible, and the corresponding cleaning is carried out."
According to the diagnosis of APECO, an important part of the 5,613 registered hectares are intended for the production of table grapes. Another part of the land is used for the cultivation of vegetables and olive trees, which were impacted virtually in their entirety.
"Currently, 100% of the production of vegetables in the Valley was affected by the floods and the figure is similar for the cultivation of olive trees, which leaves the vegetable producers in a bind, as they don't know if they can recover their activities," said Lina Arrieta.
Regarding the fruit sector, Ronald Bown said: "One of the characteristics of the Valley of Copiapó is its early grape production, which represents a competitive advantage for Chile in international markets, but according to the study released by APECO the consequences of the rains and floods put this sector under great pressure, as a high percentage of the hectares planted with this crop was damaged, affecting the region's table grape production, as well as this sector's labour demand. Thus, our preliminary estimate is that the production of table grapes will be reduced by at least 30 percent, during the next seasons."
Needs
Agriculture is one of the main poles of development in the Atacama Region, because it generates work, directly, to nearly 18,000 people in high season, and because it indirectly creates jobs in the service areas, transportation and other sectors. In addition, the region exports near 12 million boxes of table grapes annually to different markets in the world. All of which makes it urgent and essential to recover the Agricultural sector in the area.
"It will be very difficult to continue producing if we do not enable the irrigation systems, everything that has to do with the channelling of the River, the intakes, the parent channels. The Monitoring Board and the Ministry of public works are currently working on this. However, the community channels and the pumping systems inside the premises still require the adoption of measures, because almost 70 percent of the fields in the Valley of Copiapó are irrigated with underground water, and these systems were wiped out by the water and mud and were left unusable," said the unionist.
Finally, it's worth noting that the President of APECO, together with other agricultural and irrigation leaders of the Atacama Region, held a meeting with the Minister of agriculture and Loreto Mery, of the National Commission on irrigation, yesterday, where they each unveiled the results of their respective diagnoses to better coordinate aids and the most urgent issues.
"I see a Minister that is quite sensitized with the issue, as he visited the region seven days after the flood, and saw firsthand the seriousness of the situation. We are confident that we will have the support and necessary coordination for our farmers. He announced the INDAP 2015 would condone the producers' debts and a renegotiation to 10 years of their credits. He announced they were going to destine money to help producers from 12 to 40 acres, and that there would be competitive grants through the CNR to support up to 15,000 projects UF irrigation," Arrieta said.