Nursery

The Association of Chilean Nurseries (AGV) held a meeting with agriculture minister Carlos Furche this week to discuss moves to boost the sector’s effectiveness so that it can go on supporting the development of the country’s fruit industry.

“Nurseries need to be able to meet the demand that exists among Chilean growers for new varieties to enable them to raise productivity levels,” said AGV president Jorge Valenzuela.

The industry is seeking ways of facilitating the import of genetic material and advance exports of plants and rootstocks to enable local nurseries to expand internationally.

Valenzuela said important progress had already been made in discussions with the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) on the subject of imported plant material. He called for the ministry to officially recognise and certify the best international breeding centres in order to allow genetic material to enter the country without the need to be quarantined.

“This would speed up the supply of modern, profitable varieties that are attractive not just to producers but also to consumers,” he noted.

Valenzuela also highlighted the progress nurseries had made under Planttrade, a scheme to promote the export of plants, seeds and genetic material by organising business round tables, seminars and trade shows. He urged the government to speed up its work on plant risk analysis so that phytosanitary protocols saying this would create new opportunities for Chilean nurseries.