Ronald Bown, the president of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), said that "a first report regarding the recent and atypical rains that hit the country from the Region of Coquimbo up to Los Lagos, states that the rains had a moderate impact on seasonal fruits, such as blueberries, cherries, table grapes, and stone fruit."
Bown said that, according to information prepared by the Fruit Development Foundation (FDF) based on data from www.agroclima.cl, producers could use blowers to remove water in the areas where it has rained less than 5 mm. However, where the rainfall had been higher, producers needed to wait for rains to end to proceed with field management, such as applying phytosanitary treatments that entail an additional cost for producers, but that are necessary to prevent decay. Bown said: "there was no damage recorded for export cherries, as the harvest is virtually over."
The president of ASOEX's Blueberry Committee, Felipe Jullierat, stated that the productive areas where it had rained would lose about two days of harvest, after which producers would have to make the corresponding applications, and that much of the fruit had to be treated and couldn't be exported fresh. Additionally, there was a hailstorm in the area of Gorbea, in the region of Araucania.
Jullierat also said the industry had already advanced 40% of the shipments corresponding to the 2016-2017 season, with more than 37 thousand tons of blueberries exported to different target markets.
The President of ASOEX said the rains wouldn't have major effects on stone fruits, except on the white nectarine that is mainly destined for Asia, as it could have some spots caused by the rain. He also said that they had to strengthen the phytosanitary status of the stone fruit that was going to be harvested with its respective treatments.
Regarding table grapes, Fernando Sat, President of ASOEX's Grape Committee, said that according to "an initial analysis, it had not rained much in the major production areas, such as the Aconcagua Valley and in Rancagua. However, if it rains, producers would have to make applications and could have losses due to partings and rots, mainly in the Flame and Superior varieties."
According to a report from FDF and Agroclima, it only rained 0.6 mm in Salamanca, Region of Coquimbo. In Valparaiso the highest rainfall was recorded in Casablanca (8.8 mm), an area mainly devoted to growing wine grapes.
In the Metropolitan Region; Melipilla and San Pedro are the places with the highest rainfall with 8.7 and 7.0 mm, respectively. In O'Higgins, the strongest rains took place in Lolol and in Marchihue with 17.2 and 5.6 mm, respectively.
Meanwhile, there were places that recorded more than 20 mm in rainfall south of the Maule Region.
Other Fruit growing
The Chairman of the Kiwi Committee, Carlos Cruzat, said the kiwi adapted itself to moist conditions, so the rain wouldn't be a major problem at this stage of its development.
"However, as in all fruit crops, fungi and bacteria can be a major challenge if the plant protection programs are not performed after rain," he said.