Regional authorities have called on people to contact INDAP or Prodesal in response to damage to greenhouses, warehouses, etc., caused by the unusual snowfall that affected various sectors of Maule.
The Maule Agriculture Ministry, together with its associated agricultural services, began to assess possible damage to the agricultural sector caused by the rain and snow event early Thursday morning. At the emergency meeting held this morning by the regional presidential delegation and ONEMI, the regional agricultural authority, Ana Muñoz, explained that although the front had unusual conditions for the area, most agricultural activity is currently on winter break, but she did not rule out damage.
“We, as the Ministry of Agriculture, began gathering information with our services on the situation of farmers early in the morning. Most agricultural activities, such as fruit trees and vineyards, are in vegetative recess due to the winter. There could be damage to winter crops such as vegetables, and in terms of infrastructure, there could be damage to greenhouses.”, he noted.
He also recalled that despite the rains, which are good news for agriculture, “The region continues to have a rainfall deficit; today we have a 5% deficit compared to the historical average for the same date. We hope that the snow will continue so that we can recover the reservoirs," he added.
Field report
The regional director (S) of INDAP, Luis González indicated that “We are currently in the process of registering the farmers affected by this natural phenomenon that usually occurs in winter, but not in the central valley or dry land areas. These are very anomalous situations that we have to see as an institution. Currently, the most affected farmers are those who have greenhouses because the snow has broken their roofs and crops such as vegetables have also been affected. There is also an impact on open-air crops and the most affected are livestock farmers because the animals cannot
access to fodder.”
As the day progresses, INDAP area agencies and local development program offices (Prodesal) in the municipalities are reporting the affected farmers, which has allowed a preliminary figure of 450 small farmers with some damage to be indicated. The sectoral authorities recalled that there are usual mechanisms in the ministry to deal with agricultural emergencies in coordination with the central level of services and that is why the first step is to carry out the registry. In this regard, González recalled that “INDAP always works with an emergency program and evaluates the amount of damage and percentage per farmer, and then generates support processes.”
“Farmers should contact their INDAP or Prodesal advisor if they have suffered any damage. They should take protective measures, protect their animals, check roofs and warehouses to protect their inputs,” said the Seremi.
