The president of Fedefruta, Jorge Valenzuela Trebilcock, is receiving reports from O'Higgins, Maule, Ñuble and Biobío on the impact of the rains and overflowing rivers in fruit production areas, just two months after the most damaging bad weather front suffered by modern fruit growing and the rural world in the last 30 years.

"Right now, fruit growers are fighting the impact of the rains on their orchards," said Jorge Valenzuela, a cherry producer from Malloa, in the O'Higgins Region. "Throughout the past week we have been preparing for this new event, and we remain active against the rain, which is again affecting damaged areas."

The president of Fedefruta is talking about damage prevention measures to "ensure there will be enough work and supply in the coming season," with the deployment of workers and resources and the implementation of contingency plans to avoid further damage. "However, we have already received reports and images of damaged orchards in Maule and Ñuble, with blueberry orchards flooded and producers and agricultural workers trying to deal with the situation to the best of their ability."

At the moment, Valenzuela warns, "it is very difficult to quantify the extent of the damages beyond the reports we have started to receive, although the outlook seems as alarming as one might expect."

The union, therefore, is backing the call of the producers from the central-southern zone to decree a state of catastrophe in the affected areas, and is making itself available to the local authorities, as well as to the Ministry of Agriculture, to provide aid, if necessary, to the affected producers, workers and rural locations.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com