O'Higgins and Maule continue to grow hand in hand with technology and innovation
They concentrate half of the irrigated land in the country and are the largest fruit exporters in Chile. It has been fully technified to cope with water and labor shortages and now they want to conquer new lands to continue expansion. It is not an easy task, but they feel it is not impossible.
Together they add more than 500 thousand hectares irrigated. Something like 50% of what the country owns and in which some traditional crops coexist harmoniously with the fruit heart of Chile. They are the regions of O'Higgins and the Maule, where the Cachapoal and Maule river basins are responsible for most of the fruit and wines produced and exported by Chile to more than 100 countries.
They are fields where technology abounds. Extensive pivots capable of watering 100 hectares of cornfields at once. Sprinklers that are activated to protect the fruit from untimely frosts. Long extensions of cherries and blueberries covered with canvases and meshes, to avoid diseases and cope with the heat that climate change brings. Meteorological stations in a large number of fields to measure temperature, humidity and predict frost with the precision of a clock. Technified irrigation in increasingly large plantations, monitored and controlled remotely from cell phones. Increasing presence of harvesting machines to cope with the growing absence of labor. And even, they are already using machines that prepare the land and plant a crop, such as tomatoes, without further intervention by man.
The desire to grow is noticeable in each space. Farmers in the area know that there is still a lot of wasted land. That the coastal dry land is waiting like a gold mine to be discovered, that the land and climate would allow it to work any crop and that if it were exploited it could double the amount of arable land that the country possesses.
But the water is missing
“This area has tremendous potential. In the Maule you could do whatever you wanted, there are very few crops and varieties of species that do not occur here. The limit is the avocado, citrus and table grapes that reach Curicó, but for all the rest, it is fantastic and there is still a lot to do. Olive trees, hazelnuts, vines, traditional crops such as wheat, corn and vegetables. There are many valleys, sub-valleys, drawers that allow for high-intensity and high-value agriculture”. Who speaks with such enthusiasm is Fernando Medina, president of the Maule Farmers Association and owner of a field near Sagrada Familia, northwest of Talca, where he produces blueberries and wine grapes for the Miguel Torres company.
The same goes for the Sixth. “The dry land is a very important area and there are geopolitical reasons to occupy and develop it. We must increase the critical mass of this sector throughout the country”, sentence Hernán Doberti, former farmer and now administrator of the Alcones farm in the Marchigüe area, halfway between San Fernando and Pichilemu, with more than 5 thousand hectares and where sweet corn is grown, sheep are raised and there are pine forests and eucalyptus
Getting fruit from the dry land is the great challenge of this macrozone. The farmers consulted say that the big brake is the absence of water, which they say is aggravated by the threat of some of the proposed changes to the Water Code.
They know that what they have achieved so far is worth highlighting. Considering, as Medina says, that Chile is nothing in agricultural terms compared to Argentina; which owns half of the arable land that Peru has, and which, after New Zealand, is the country in the southern hemisphere with less availability of land for agricultural cultivation.
But the businessmen have done it and thanks to the fact that they were given an opportunity 40 years ago and knew how to take advantage of it, emphasizes Patricio Crespo, former president of the SNA and owner of a 600-hectare field where he produces corn, plums and vines. “The private sector has the dynamism, the adaptability and the commitment to produce, to face the problems and the best proof of this is to see how the region is doing”, he affirms.
The second challenge in the region is the lack of labor. Many interviewees say that old people are staying in the fields and young people no longer have an interest in cultivating the land. This has forced them to technically maximize the harvest processes. But they have also received an unexpected gift, according to Francisco Duboy, president of the Federation of Farmers and the Association of Producers and Exporters of the O'Higgins Region, with the arrival of immigrants.
The fight for water
Fernando Medina believes that the project for a water highway proposed by Fundación Reguemos Chile is expensive, but viable. “We are talking about 20 to 30 billion dollars for the entire project. But if one sees what they have done in Spain, in California, in Peru, it must be done thinking of the next 60 years, as a State project, as was done with the Maule basin in 1947”.
It refers to the agreement signed by Endesa that year and stipulates that everything that is done with the river and its tributaries is destined for irrigation and that the surpluses, if any, are destined for generation.
He says that the work carried out by the then state company in the Laguna del Maule had the objective of increasing from 70 to 140 irrigated hectares and that the efforts to make the largest wall, carried out 10 years later, were finally intended to reach 200. hectares irrigated in 50 years. “We have more than achieved that and we have had to fight several times so that they do not revoke that right. The Sixth Civil Court of Santiago has just given an incredible ruling in August, where it is clear that this water is for irrigation and not for electricity generation as a priority purpose ”, he explains.
The water highway project, he says, would allow one million hectares of water to be irrigated in the country, going from the coastal zone of the Ninth Region to the dryland areas of the central zone and the desert plateaus in Atacama.
Patricio Crespo knows about the issue of water. "Since 1970 I've been in the water," he says. He has been the president of the Federation of Surveillance Boards of the Sixth Region for 7 years and that includes 200 irrigated hectares and 28 irrigators.
He maintains that this year there will be no problems, since it has rained almost normally, but the critical thing is that snow no longer accumulates and there is more and more runoff. “In winter very little water is used, it is from October to March when it is required and it is precisely at that time when the mountain range was diluting the water little by little. Now that reservoir has shrunk.”
The solution is to build more reservoirs. Stop the water in the high parts and store it when necessary. He says that the Convento Viejo reservoir, on the Chimbarongo estuary, works 10 years ago, but only irrigates in Colchagua. They have tried to extend it to Lolol, in the dry land, but the works have been slower than expected, because the investment is expensive. He adds that they are seeing alternatives for areas that have well irrigation and that are weakening in the western end of the province, such as Marchigüe, Alcones and the precordillera of the coast.
“There is a lot of soil to irrigate in the region. With good regulation, we could occupy water from the Rapel reservoir through an agreement with Endesa. With that, the surrounding area could be irrigated to the north and south. There is even a project circulating, but it is a private initiative and here there has to be a public project”.
That's where the problems begin, he says. Ensures that there is no political will to take out these projects.
“The State supports lip service. These projects use them more to get votes than to materialize them. The public world does not talk to the private, they are very reluctant to talk to the private, there is mistrust, ”she complains.
Account that in the case of Convent Old, its construction started in 1960 and that until today the annexed works that would allow to irrigate more areas are not ready. “Of the 230 million cubic meters, we are taking advantage of the 30 million used by the irrigators of the canal, everything else goes to the sea. And the reservoir has been ready for 10 years. Am I right or not?".
He states that there is no state policy that sees this as a country issue and that whenever there is a change of government, the domes change, new people arrive, well-intentioned, but without knowledge of the subject, he says. “4 or 5 years ago I proposed to reach Marchigüe with a canal that carried water from the Old Convent. This is a rolling zone, there are 3 hectares planted with vines that are in danger and need water, and there are 4 hectares that can be irrigated. For the elections, all the parliamentarians came to offer the extension of the reservoir. The election passed and nothing. Politics is not up to the challenges facing the country”sentence.
The Alcones estate, managed by Héctor Doberti, would benefit from this work. In it there are currently 5 thousand sheep that graze through a system of rotation of grasslands not to waste the land. And although there are many vineyards in the area, they are irrigated with wells and the basin has no more to drill.
“Nothing has ever been done for the dry land. Canals in the Old Convent could be expanded and bring water, but it is not done. Curves could be made on the slopes of the hills for the water to run off and to be able to irrigate, but it is not done. There is a lack of capital and it is up to the State, with special competitions, to build those canals. There is a project to bring water from the Convento Viejo to Marchigüe, but there is no awareness of the authority. It is a problem of political decision”.
The growing importance of caliber
The Maule Region has always been a territory of traditional crops, explains Fernando Medina. Except for the area of Curicó, Teno and Romeral, where there was a generational change and fresh capital arrived, the rest got on the bandwagon of the fruit industry only about 20 years ago. “In recent years it has taken flight and there is a boom. Hazelnuts started in 2001 and today there are already 20 hectares planted, while in the rest of the country there are about 30. The corn surface was 120 thousand hectares in the country and the Maule came to have 50%, today it is 30 thousand. But everything changed with irrigation and apple trees, pear trees, table grapes, blueberries have been added with great force, walnut and cherry trees”.
Cherry trees have had explosive growth in the hands of Chinese consumption. It is estimated that 80% of national production goes to that destination and returns are increasing. But it is a demanding market. And every year it asks for fruits of greater caliber. “In China, red is the lucky color, gifts are wrapped in red paper, with a red ribbon and if they find a red cherry inside, it is the summum”, says Medina. And he adds that every time they ask for larger sizes, at least 16 mm. "There are farmers who leave 60% of their production hanging in the plants, because the jumbo size is no longer at a good price, 5 years ago it sold very well, but today if it is not extra jumbo, it is not bought".
Something similar happens with blueberries. The Maule is the second region in production of the country after the Eighth, with a third of the more than 15 thousand hectares planted in the country. Chile is the world's leading exporter, with more than 100 one thousand tons per year. Peru is second in the southern hemisphere, with 26 thousand tons. But 4 or 5 years ago its production was practically nil.
Jorge Pollmann owns an export company -Niceblue- on the way to Panimávida, near Linares, next to Germán Farr and Carlos Abujatum. It is also part of the board of the Blueberry Committee, an entity that groups 80% of the country's producers.
Account that they have had to make changes of varieties and use new technologies to adapt to the market, climate change and the presence of new competitors.
For example, they have covered the trees with meshes to look for precocity in the fruit and go out to the market before. The irrigation is 100% technified and if not, it is not worth it, he says. But the biggest problem is the frosts that affect the first fruits, of August and September, just at a time when Peruvians are already entering the Chinese market with force.
"We put frost control with water that is sprayed on it and this causes the igloo effect, that is, it covers the plant, it freezes and creates a microclimate between the ice and the fruit so that it does not freeze. With a strong frost, 50% of the fruit can be lost, but with this system, only 5% is reached. Roofs are also used that allow the temperature to rise a couple of degrees, and tunnels that increase between 2 and 3 degrees”, explains Pollmann.
He says they are attentive to what happens in Peru because in a few years they have managed to increase their production.
“Peru started 4 or 5 years ago on sandy terrain, without rain, which makes it better to keep it. The temperature is high, they produce early and due to the weather, the plant produces more. They get a good caliber, with good wax, but the sugar-acid ratio is not the best and luckily for Chile, in China they like sugar. They have entered that market, but if Chilean fruit arrives, prices from Peru drop immediately."
The Blueberry Committee took over the issue of caliber and last year it rose from 10 to 12 millimeters the minimum for export. But there are more demanding markets, such as China, where 14 millimeters is demanded. "And hopefully greater than that, and up to 16 millimeters in some cases", he points.
With these requirements, many producers will be forced to make a change of varieties, because if it does not give the caliber they will have to allocate their fruits to frozen and with that, the price does not give. "Between 10 and 15% should necessarily change"says Pollmann. "Otherwise they will not have a place in the coming years".
Last season, Chile surpassed for the first time the 100 thousand tons exported of blueberries and for this a higher figure is expected. The question that arises is whether this could cause market saturation. Pollmann sees no possibility of this happening. And that China already has 60 thousand hectares planted with blueberries and have come to Chile to learn about their cultivation. “The Chinese market is coping. They work with rings that open as the product is consumed. It starts on the coast and then goes into the interior of the country. Those prices should be lower, but the sales volume will improve”, Explica.
The Blueberry Committee carried out a study in the European market, on the quality of the fruit compared to other producers. The result showed that in terms of flavor, Peru had a good evaluation, but its acidity level was very high. Fruit from Argentina was consistently poorly evaluated, and that from Morocco and Spain, which arrived at the end of the Chilean season, was consistently well evaluated. "Chile's biggest challenge is variability and firmness, especially towards the end of the season," the study concludes.
There is concern among producers about the quality and uniformity of shipments and why market requirements are met. “China has extraordinary potential, but we are not alone. Everyone looks at China, with very good technology. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have us in their sights. Europeans work together, in cooperatives and I cannot understand how Chile does not face the markets as a country", accuses Fernando Medina.
He says that everyone uses the Chile brand as they want, while in New Zealand all kiwis are certified by a company and thus quality is ensured. "Why don't we do anything? We are the private ones who are afraid to do it. I have just spoken to Ronald Bown on this subject. And he does not mean that we all export with a single company, but rather committing that if a box says category 1, there is category 1 inside and that there is no jam, ”he blurts out. And he adds that the ideal is that it should be the State, in order to protect the Chile brand, that generates a labeling standard that is complied with. Just as there is a ban on exporting fruits with lobesia or white pig, let the SAG say if the standard is met and say that such a box cannot leave the country.
New workforce
As in other regions of the country, the shortage of labor and the lack of interest of new generations to work in the field are issues of concern.
Francisco Duboy says that young people today work only two days in a harvest; They earn some money and leave it. He states that the composition of families has changed and that children live with parents, where they have everything, so they only work to satisfy their tastes. Therefore, he sees immigrants as saviors.
“We suddenly found that we didn't have people to work and for those things that God provides, immigrants began to appear. And a problem that seemed tremendous to us suddenly disappears. They are doing the trick, ”she says.
But it has not been so easy. They have had to spend time teaching them the trade and in some cases they encounter the language barrier, with the Haitians. In general, in the case of the latter, although they are unaware of the work in the field, they say they show a willingness to learn and are very hardworking.
The downside is that they can only hire those who have their papers up to date. Duboy says that in his area they use a letter that the government gives to migrants where it is said that their documents are in process. That's enough. But more is required. The new migrant law proposed by the Government sets the maximum number of immigrants that a company can hire from 15% to 25%. In the field they want it to be more than 30%, because labor is scarce.
Beyond that, Fernando Medina says that it is urgent that the agricultural labor statute be approved, because in the countryside the demands are different. “According to the current norm, there are two shifts and it cannot be that you have a schedule in the contract and to change it you must notify 30 days in advance. Here we work with emergencies. Sometimes you have to bring forward the harvest and start working earlier, but the law prevents me from doing so”.
The other drawback is that contractors have become labor negotiators for farmworkers. They say that there are more and more people who move workers in vans and who are offering labor to the highest bidder, charge for their transfer and are able to take a crew if there is a better offer in another field, and leave a farmer without workers
Medina works with immigrants and has more than Haitian 100 who, he says, perform very well. Particularly women, since for the blueberry harvest you need more delicate hands.
"I asked the driver what happened and he said: 'I opened the door and it was full, I couldn't stop them'."
The offer is not scarce. Medina says that on one occasion he warned that he needed 50 women to harvest the blueberries. A mic arrived with more than 150.
Source: El Mercurio
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