Growing area with organic blueberries as an option of good profitability
Fumigation requirements for organic blueberries entering the US from OHiggins, Maule and Biobío, to control the Lobesia botrana they push the rise in the southern zone. * In a year, certified hectares doubled, from 1.400 ha to more than 3.200 nationwide.
The restrictions placed by the United States since December of 2013 for Chilean blueberries, produced between the Metropolitan and Biobío regions, by the appearance of the grapevine moth, have brought positive consequences for some producers.
After the detection of some copies of Lobesia botrana in blueberries, which implied the decision by the US health authorities to demand fumigation with methyl bromide for entry to that country - and, therefore, that organic blueberries lose that condition to enter their main destination market -, fruit from the unregulated regions accessed new opportunities.
A few days after the US announcement on the requirement of fumigation, in the industry they assure that organic prices rose twice, which remained in the 2015-2016 season and in the previous one.
As a result of the rise in prices and after analyzing that the Chilean organic offer would be severely depleted -the majority is between Maule and Biobío-, several producers from La Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos decided to convert their organic gardens to take advantage of that attractiveness .
Four years later, the SAG data account for these decisions. Only between September of 2016 and 2017, the area of certified organic blueberries increased 130%, from 1.407 hectares to little more than 3.200 hectares, with strong increases in the southern zone.
"Most of Chile's organic offer was restricted to enter and they began to certify orchards that are outside that area. That is what explains the increase in the organic surface, because from this season the transition periods from conventional to organic begin to be fulfilled.“explains the executive director of the Blueberry Committee, Andrés Armstrong.
In the sector say that it is a specific situation, which would be noticed in 2017 and this year, but in 2019 should resume a normal growth rate, around the annual 10%.
But the trend towards a higher proportion of organic blueberries in Chile - which occupy around 25% of the national area, according to the Blueberry Committee - is here to stay.
"It has never happened that the organic surface decreases, except in specific cases, such as avocados, which fell due to the effects of drought“, explains the operations manager of the Ecocert certifier, Cristián Carranza.
More reconversion
Most of the 1.826 new hectares of blueberries certified as organic in 2017 are concentrated in Biobío, but the southern areas that are not restricted to enter the US. -La Araucanía, Los Lagos and Los Ríos- amount to 964 hectares, more than half of the national increase.
Cristián Carranza points out that the SAG data also considers orchards in transition to organic and not only those that are certified - something that they confirm from the SAG, although they claim that the 90% of the 2017 area corresponds to already certified orchards - because precisely the 2016-2017 season was complicated in prices, and in Ecocert they did not notice a special dynamism.
"The most concrete thing is to say that the increase of the organic surface is justified by the orchards that have entered the certification process, where it stands out from the IX Region to the south with very interesting projects, which have a very important percentage within the surface country total"says Carranza.
Ramiro Soffia, general manager of Hortifrut Chile, which is the largest producer of organic blueberries in the world and for this season aims to export seven thousand tons of this fruit, twice the previous season and 35% of the total blueberries that will be sent, details that the company is part of the change, with different projects in several regions.
"A new organic project was started in the northern zone and we have converted an important part of the orchards of La Araucanía, Los Lagos and Los Ríos to organic“, he affirms, and highlights that in the case of Hortifrut, an important part of its own orchards and those of its partners are already organic or are in transition.
"As long as there is a growing demand for organic blueberries, the supply should follow the demand", Add.
The frozen
When the new rules for lobesia were announced, the partners of Huertos Collipulli already had the 25% of their organic production and, as they are in the IX Region, they were benefited by the good prices.
With the increase in the surface, they recognize that the extraordinary scenario that they lived in the last three seasons should be normalized.
"We did not convert new orchards, because we already had a percentage that we wanted to maintain. This year's increase is the result of the first ones that started with the transition, volumes have increased and prices are returning to normal, although those that leave early still have access to very good prices“, details the manager of Huertos Collipulli, Cristóbal Duke.
Another effect of the restriction is frozen organic blueberries, which almost did not exist in Chile and appeared because the organic producers of the restricted areas, far from returning to conventional management, opted for that option.
While this could have driven prices down for frozen organics, Cristóbal Duke says that, with the exception of last season, they went up. “Before the lobesia, the availability of organic blueberries for IQF was so low that the market did not exist. The plague generated an offer that created a new segment“, he raises.
However, Armstrong warns that in the freeze it competes with everyone, because seasonality is lost, and years with high stocks can affect prices.
What makes us different
This season, the Blueberry Committee is monitoring finer organic cranberry shipments, considering the regions from which they depart and destinations, and it is estimated that in this campaign will be exported between eight thousand and ten thousand tons, of which the 90% goes to the USA
To accompany the increase of organic fruit, for the first time they are doing specific promotional activities.
"We want to do a more focused work on the organic ones because of the differentiation we can get compared to other countries, like Peru“says Andrés Armstrong.
He also believes that the standardization of the rules with the European Union opens up opportunities in that market, by facilitating access, something that the certifiers agree on.
"The agreement generates advantages, because it will be a less than cost certification and we have the competent authority in Chile, with the same hours, language and technical realities“estimates Cristián Carranza, and adds that, despite the good prospects, he does not expect to see an explosive rise in the certified area, but annual increases of around 10%.
In Hortifrut, meanwhile, comment that the decision to convert gardens, rather than the lobesia, goes through the growing trend of consumers who are willing to pay more for blueberries free of agrochemicals.
Source: El Mercurio
Previous article
Study attributes blueberries to antibacterial propertiesARTÍCULOS RELACIONADOS
