The Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX) reported its technical teams are on the ground evaluating possible damage to the seasonal fruit.
Carlos Cruzat, president of the Kiwi Committee, commented that so far “there is no damage to kiwis. There have been frosts of between -1 °C and -4 °C, depending on the area. For example, there was a coastal trough in the area of Limache and in part of the Cajón del Valle which helped moderate the temperature, so they haven't had any major problems to date. In the high zone, however, there were more extreme lows. Fortunately, in general, the low temperatures do not present a great difficulty for kiwi in this part of the year because it helps it lose leaves and the plant prepares to enter its total recess. Although there is a risk for the PSA, which is activated with these low temperatures. Thus, it's important to monitor the orchards and to implement any necessary measures."
“In general, low temperatures are not a serious problem for kiwi and the rest of the deciduous fruit.”
“Most of the orchards in citrus production areas are more protected from the cold as they are inside the valleys, and the orchards in areas that are more exposed to it have frost control systems, which have been activated, during the frosts that have occurred to date,” stated Monserrat Valenzuela, the manager of ASOEX's Citrus Committee.
“The frost doesn't affect all areas and citrus orchards in the same way, there might only be one sector of the orchard affected. However, it's important to stress that the damage caused by frost can be evaluated 10 days after the occurrence of the phenomenon, and depends on the minimum temperature, the time of exposure to that temperature, the species and variety, and the state of maturity of the fruit, so the technical and professional teams of the companies associated with the committee are on the ground making the corresponding evaluations," the manager stated.
Finally, Valenzuela said that “the Citrus Committee has developed a Manual of Action against frost so that producers and exporters can follow a precise and disciplined work plan so that they don't export fruit that has been damaged by low temperatures. These actions include the installation of thermographers in the orchards and the temporary suspension of crops in the affected orchards until the fruit is checked to confirm that it meets the corresponding export requirements.
For more information:
ASOEX
www.asoex.cl