"In general our production load has been normal. The weather has been good, there's been no rain, but there has been a high humidity which has forced us to conduct a strict control of powdery mildew and botrytis," stated Nicolas Vargas, the manager of Fruit West Chile.
Photo: Linkedin Nicolas Vargas
His publication on Linkedin talked about his Red Globes. "The production was delayed a couple of weeks which resulted in a concentration of high volumes for the last weeks of the season. This year, the problem has been the market for traditional varieties, especially for the Flame varieties. Many producers and exporters have decided not to export them next season because of the low returns they obtain, which barely cover production costs."
According to Nicolas Vargas, the Thompson and Red Globe varieties have a good quality and they're still in business. However, he said, "they are also destined to leave the market in a few years. That's why we have already begun to replace varieties with new ones that produce more boxes per hectare and that need less manpower and resources for their production."