- More than 250 people attended the Regional Meeting of fruit producers in Curicó, Maule, organized by Fedefruta and Fruséptima, supported by ProChile.
Tough times are once again bringing the fruit sector together. In the Maule region, the Federation of Fruit Producers (Fedefruta), together with Fruséptima and ProChile, launched the 2022 Regional Fruit Meeting cycle, an event that enthusiastically brought together more than 250 participants at the La Unión de Curicó Club and focused on market, technical and especially union issues.
“Today, the whole fruit industry is in a difficult situation. Table grapes, half of the cherries, blueberries, all fruits are in a difficult situation due to the logistics crisis and rising costs.”, said Jorge Valenzuela, president of Fedefruta, regarding the analysis of the fruit panorama in Maule and in Chile, where he spoke with producers in the area about the main challenges of the sector, in the context of one of the most difficult seasons in recent decades.
Carolina Dosal, president of Fruséptima and director of the Union of Women in Agriculture (Umagro), said that: “Regardless of the technical issues, today the greatest challenge is to overcome the individualism of producers. We must unite more than ever to face the great problems we are having this year, the most complex year of the last 30, 40 years, and the only way to move forward is with unity.” In addition, he indicated that the logistical crisis and the pandemic problems continue to affect in economic terms. “Due to all these problems, the most important thing today is the union of the guild, the invitation is to join Fedefruta”, he emphasized.
For her part, Julieta Romero, regional director of ProChile Maule, reiterated the call for unity in the fruit sector: “It is essential to remain united, coordinated, associativity is essential to face the future,” and he thanked the federation for its informative role during the last time, “congratulations on the #MiércolesOnline event because it has been two years with interesting topics that have kept us very informed and interested in what is happening.”, the director pointed out.
The Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, also greeted the representatives of the union and the attendees through a video, confirming the importance of fruit for food security -Fedefruta is present participating in the Commission on Food Security and Sovereignty- and emphasized the issue of water. “We would like to tell you that, as we agreed with former ministers and it is the intention not only of the Ministry of Agriculture but also of the executive, whether this new constitution wins or loses, this ministry believes that the Basin Council where all the actors take responsibility is fundamental, and that there is collaboration, traceability and truth in the responsible use of water. And that water rights and/or administrative permits have to be medium to long term, based of course on the capacities of the basins, because (that) is already in the water code. As occurred in the Aconcagua Valley, when the different sections or Surveillance Boards do not agree, there is a state role to seek agreements and make the apportionment.”
The Fedefruta and ProChile Regional Meeting also included presentations by Lan Xu, import manager of Chengdu Jiatian Agricultural Products Co., who spoke about what is coming and how to prepare for the cherry season in China; on the other hand, Nicolás Suazo, a lawyer specializing in Water Law at Montt Group, warned about the new implications brought by changes in regulations regarding water and the considerations of producers for this scenario.
The next Regional Meeting of fruit producers will be held together with the Sociedad Agrícola del Norte (SAN) and ProChile on Wednesday, July 27 in Ovalle, Coquimbo region.
