The head of Fedefruta, Ramon Achurra, met with the president of BancoEstado, Jorge Rodriguez Grossi, and his team, which includes Jessica Lopez Saffie (the general manager of BancoEstado), Soledad Ovando (the manager of the Small Businesses area) and Jorge Gonzalez (the assistant manager of the Small Business area), to analyze ways of financing and renegotiating the debt that the Chilean fruit growing sector, which is ending a particularly challenging season, has. The meeting was also attended by the vice president of the fruit guild, Antonio Walker Prieto, and manager Juan Carlos Sepulveda.
"Even though the exchange rate is currently in our favor, we informed the president of BancoEstado that the entrepreneurs of the fruit sector had had a complex financial season because of climatic factors that reduced production and revenues," said Achurra. "That's why we have to find alternatives to refinance the activity. The income of a number of growers was affected in recent months," he added.
The president of Fedefruta also stated that, to stay in the market, producers had to manage modern production techniques and have new varieties that were attractive to consumers, which required a significant investment. "Each hectare requires a larger number of trees that need infrastructure, systems that allow mechanizing the harvests of crops, as well as implementing irrigation systems and technologies, which means producers must invest some $60,000 dollars per hectare," Achurra said. "That's why we're also asking if there is a financial instrument that would allow producers to pay these investments after three years, when the crops start generating revenues."
In that regard, BancoEstado said that it had launched a short, medium, and long term agricultural investment credit plan in April so that producers could purchase inputs and machinery, change their crops, construct packing facilities, and refinance their debt. Producers can access these credit schemes until June 30.
Jorge Gonzalez, assistant manager of BancoEstado's Small Businesses area, spoke about the importance of the fruit industry for the country and said it was important to listen to the demands of the sector and propose alternative financing for the activity. "It's important to believe in the Chilean fruit growing sector, not only because of economic factors, but also to support exports of fresh fruit so that Chile isn't as dependent on copper," he said. "There is also a social component, in the sense that the fruit sector creates jobs and welfare for people, which is extremely important for us as a bank, because that will allow us to have a more equitable country."
Searching for alternative funding for the fruit sector guild, so that it can advance this season, has been one of the first tasks undertaken by the president of Fedefruta, who took office a month ago. Achurra already addressed this particular issue with the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, and with Corfo. "Despite the difficulties, we are optimistic because we have created awareness that we need measures to boost the sector. We hope this year will be very productive," Achurra said.