Iván Marambio, the president of Frutas de Chile (former Asoex), said that the fruit sector is evaluating the situation in the fields after the spring rains that are affecting various areas of the country. "As far as our sector is concerned, it's never good to have rains in harvest times -as is happening in the blueberry and cherry harvest- or to have rainfall in flowering periods, which is what's happening to our table grapes in the central-southern area of the country."
"The sector has been preparing, because we believe that adaptation is key. We are moving some crops to other productive areas, investing in roofs to cover crops, and in new fruit varieties that are resistant to drought, disease, and other technologies. In addition, there are phytosanitary methods to mitigate the damage," he added. "However, this will increase costs for producers; for example, they will have to apply products to prevent the appearance of fungi or other damage to the fruit."
"That's why our blueberry, cherry, and table grape committees are working on new estimates that reflect these adverse weather conditions," he concluded.
Source: simfruit.cl