About 470 producers affected by the frosts have filled out the survey available at EmergenciaHeladas2013.cl. The survey’s data is immediately sent to the work table in which Fedefruta is participating to find solutions and mitigations for all of the producers that were affected by the natural phenomenon that struck the sector during the second half of September.
So far, information corresponding to 15 thousand hectares has been entered in the land register system and the Chilean Federation of Fruit Producers continues to urge its associates to access the site and fill out the survey as Corfo, BancoEstado and the private banks will take this survey into consideration when they design their aid plans.
Corfo’s vice president, Hernán Cheyre, said that they were contacting the people that had filled out the survey at EmergenciaHeladas2013.cl to guide them in their following steps. Corfo also announced the reopening of the Access to SMEs Guarantee Program that will allow farmers to request bank loans with Corfo acting as an endorsement for free, as well as helping them reprogram their existing debts, even if they weren’t warrantied by Corfo.
Represented by their General manager, Juan Carlos Sepúlveda, Fedefruta is participating in the agricultural work table (conformed by the Ministries of Agriculture and Labour, Corfo, SNA, BancoEstado, the private banks and other guilds) with the purpose of creating awareness of the situation that the producers of fruits, vegetables and flowers affected by the frosts are undergoing and to help them obtain what they demand. Even after achieving that BancoEstado announced that they would reprogram their long term loans to up to 15 years, Fedefruta will continue watching over the producers’ interests in this instance.
Source: Fedefruta