For some weeks now, it is possible to hear or see in the mass media announcements of a preventive campaign to avoid the entry of the fruit fly into Chile; this occurs months after some specimens of this pest were detected in the Ovalle area, after which the relevant authorities They declared quarantine 27 kilometers around the place where the find was made. This, by the way, had consequences for cherry and other fruit producers.
At the beginning of February, we spoke in our Smartcherry Interview section with Jorge Astudillo, Production Manager of Agroindustrial Valle Arriba, and with Miguel Ángel Lorenzini, Plant Manager of Teno Pack and Teno Ovalle, who expressed their concern about the handling of the situation. Days later, both attended a meeting, the second since October to date, which was informative in nature about the Fruit Fly Campaign in Ovalle.
«There were not many people, the call was unfortunately made through emails, but there was no more massive dissemination, by radio or directly in the town where the focus is today. The first thing that the SAG and the authorities did after our interventions was to recognize in their self-criticism information problems, communication problems, they precisely raised the possibility of changing the strategy, not doing it through the unions, but doing it directly with the people, because we have seen that although there is concern on the part of the producers, there are people who wander around the quarantined areas who are agricultural workers or who live there and who may be transporting fruit from one point to another and that the SAG is not able to supervise,» said Jorge Astudillo.
During the meeting, it was reported that more than 1,000 traps have been installed in the area, achieving 82 findings between adults and larvae. The first capture was on October 27, 2023, while the last one was reported at the meeting on January 16, 2024. The affected communes are Ovalle and Punitaqui, specifically 2 producers with million-dollar losses (they have been forced to discard 30,000 kilos of mandarins and 3,000 kilos of prime cherries).
The concern of the producers in the area is that if new findings are detected, the quarantine could be extended, complicating the season for several fruit species, including cherries. During the recent campaign, several producers had to send their fruit to other destinations, other than China, due to the quarantine; in turn, they had to carry out cold quarantines during the transfer of the fruit, which increases shipping costs and therefore affects returns.
According to the information provided at the aforementioned meeting, the expectations for eradication, based on analyses of the pest's behavior (if there are no new findings), project the end of the campaign for the period May-June.
During this week, new data regarding the current campaign and new findings will be released. This information will be delivered in a timely manner through our platform and will allow us to glimpse the scenario that producers and exporters in the area will have to face.
Recently the SAG reported through its page the eradication of outbreaks that had occurred in Coquimbo, Recoleta, Los Andes, Independencia and Ñuñoa.
Chile and the fruit fly
In 1995, Chile was declared a country free of fruit flies (Family Tehpritidae); this constitutes a comparative advantage for the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables, since within America, Chile is the only one that holds this category. The Agricultural and Livestock Service, a phytosanitary protection organization, is responsible for preventing and controlling the presence of this insect and does so through the Fruit Flies Program, using a National Sensitive Detection System.
Bell
“Prevention Mission” is the name of the campaign launched by the Agricultural and Livestock Service at the end of last year to inform, prevent and avoid the entry into Chile of the dreaded fruit fly plague. During the last few weeks, this campaign has begun to be broadcast through mass media, in order to prevent the entry of this plague into the national territory.
The fact that Chile has been free of this pest for almost three decades has allowed it to position itself as one of the most important fruit exporters in the world.
