The president of Fedefruta, Jorge Valenzuela Trebilcock, is receiving reports from O'Higgins, Maule, Ñuble and Biobío on the impact of rain and river overflows in fruit production areas. This is just two months after experiencing the most damaging bad weather front that modern fruit growing and the rural world have seen in the last 30 years.
"At this moment, fruit growers are fighting the rains on their farms," says Jorge Valenzuela, a cherry producer from Malloa, in the O'Higgins Region. «We have been preparing for this new event all last week and we have been trying to keep up with the rain, which is once again affecting damaged areas.»
The president of Fedefruta refers to damage prevention measures to "ensure work and supplies in the coming season", deployment of workers and resources, and contingency plans to avoid further damage.However, we have already received reports and images of damaged orchards in Maule and Ñuble, with flooded blueberry fields and producers and agricultural workers trying to sustain the situation as much as possible.
At this minute, Valenzuela warns, "It is very difficult to quantify the damage beyond the testimonies we have begun to receive, although the panorama is as alarming as one might expect".
The union therefore joins the call of producers in the central-southern region to declare a state of catastrophe in the affected areas, and is at the disposal of local authorities, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, to remain vigilant about the situation and to assist, if necessary, the producers, workers and affected rural areas.
