Agro

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A few weeks in the past there was speak of the arrival of two “atmospheric rivers” to the central space with intense rain and snow. The primary of them left quite a lot of water falling, however quickly the second frontal system arrived, leaving extra rainfall in a brief time frame, which meant that the soils had been unable to soak up it.

The worst state of affairs was skilled in fields, plots and agricultural properties the place the worst half was attributed to open-air and ground-level plantations that ended up flooded by water, in addition to some greenhouses. That is how he defined it to #ElRancagüino Marcelo Fuentes who’s the president of the O’Higgins Farmers Federation, a union that brings collectively at the very least three thousand small and medium-sized farmers within the space. “Within the first frontal system the fields didn’t have main issues, however with the final one final Thursday, the soils had been saturated,” mentioned the spokesperson. The canals and soils within the area obtained water from streams that the hill itself was forming since after they had been saturated the water was searching for its course, in response to what he advised us within the dialog. After his analysis, Fuentes assured that “we have now quite a lot of affect on small and medium-sized agriculture, particularly vegetable growers with their greenhouses flooded in sectors equivalent to San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Pichidegua and Quinta de Tilcoco.”

The affected farmers should postpone their planting since they should first drain their greenhouses, ventilate and await the humidity to cross to keep away from phytosanitary issues, rebuild the greenhouses that fell as a result of wind, added the president of this group, so “they should enhance the funding as a result of its prices will rise, due to this fact the state of affairs could be very complicated for the union.” Likewise, he specified that outside productions are tough to reap with rain, so there will likely be a lower within the manufacturing of sure merchandise. And he exemplified that within the case of tomatoes, “which start to be taken out in October, throughout these months the beds start to be ready for transplanting, however seeing the injury within the greenhouses will delay the planting and they won’t have the required care to take action.” month. Within the case of broccoli, cabbage, lettuce or chard, that are at floor degree and open air, if they’re below water or added to the low temperatures that can arrive, they’re misplaced since they’re affected by fungi and should be thrown away. .

Confronted with this situation, Fuentes known as on all farmers who really feel affected to strategy INDAP or, if they don’t seem to be customers, to strategy the Seremi de Agricultura, simply as they’ve carried out as a federation. As we speak they ask the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, to declare the O’Higgins area an agricultural emergency zone, “as a result of we’re going to want it,” he insists. “We don’t rule out requesting it as a result of this fashion we are able to attain small and medium-sized agriculture with recent assets rapidly. That is what we had been seeing over the weekend with him on the bottom to judge the affect that these newest fronts of dangerous climate and precipitation could have,” added the union consultant.

PRICE SPECULATION

Relating to doable value hypothesis, the spokesperson for this federation requires calm. “The concept is to forestall value speculators who all the time seem in these conditions with local weather affect saying that sure merchandise will enhance in value. It’s true that you will notice a lower in some horticultural productions, particularly in crops adjoining to the canals or rivers that had been flooded, this may trigger a rise in costs. However within the case of tomatoes, for instance, their seasonality makes us eat tomatoes from the north presently, equivalent to from Arica, or many occasions they’re additionally imported from Peru,” explains Fuentes, not all the time ruling out a small enhance in sure greens grown on this area. area.

Now we should await the soils to relaxation and soak up water, so as to see the ultimate injury after this storm in a few weeks. That’s the reason the monitoring continues and whereas they’re working with BancoEstado, so as to see some assist instruments, postponement of some loans or making them extra accessible in some circumstances. “It’s because we’re excellent payers within the financial institution, and that’s the reason this Monday (June 24) we could have a gathering with them to see reduction for farmers. We’re additionally working with INDAP on the problem of credit and the opportunity of accessing some capital in order that they’ll reinvent themselves with sure crops,” mentioned Fuentes.

He added – till the closing of this version – that no additional info has been obtained concerning the affect on fruit bushes, particularly with flooded fields, since immediately these are in recess. “In fact, the dragging of earth in plantations, farmers should put money into soil enchancment, utility of recent substrates, making use of extra vitamins, however we is not going to know till the start of flowering how these fruit bushes behave.”

With winter simply starting, farmers within the area are nervous about what’s coming, the local weather and local weather change that results in fixed variation. “They are saying that the autumn was going to be very wet and now the phenomenon of The lady that may deliver us a dry and chilly winter. We hope that along with the rain within the coming months we will likely be accompanied by snow in order that we are able to make sure the irrigation interval in manufacturing,” he identified.

PREVENTION?

Within the opinion of Marcelo Fuentes, we might keep away from all these floods and waterlogging in rural sectors if there have been extra reservoirs to retailer all this water that falls from the streams and accumulates. “It is a signal. We lose 80% of the water that goes to the ocean, which we might accumulate and likewise forestall these floods. Moreover, they need to be reservoirs with superior know-how. What occurred in Millahue (San Vicente), a reservoir with greater than 50 neighborhood members, was a really particular state of affairs. I used to be assembly with them and so they had been very involved as a result of the roadblock is being unloaded to supply safety to the inhabitants. And if this continues, we is not going to have water for the irrigation season, which might have an effect on many farmers within the space,” he added and recalled that within the coming days they’ll maintain a working group with the DGA, the Ministry of Agriculture and the irrigators to decide. ultimate resolution.

What’s worse for agriculture, RAIN or COLD?

In keeping with Marcelo Fuentes, president of the area’s farmers federation, “though rain and chilly are conditions that have an effect on agricultural work, when we have now a considerable amount of rain in a couple of hours, outside crops develop into saturated, and in the long run They are going to rot attributable to stagnant water in two or three days. When we have now low temperatures, we even have an issue with frost and we lose our crops, they burn or they don’t develop attributable to their poor growth. That’s the reason each climatic elements are antagonistic for farmers, particularly for small and medium-sized agriculture. And probably the most affected in winter are the horticultural producers as a result of the funding situations are very restricted.” In winter, merchandise equivalent to avocados, lemons and oranges can be affected. “We’re smaller producers of citrus in areas like Peumo or Las Cabras, however we’re additionally affected,” he concludes.