Cherry producers in the Chilean region of Curicó affected by last November’s heavy rainfall have been offered financial support to cover orchards in order to prevent future losses.
In a coordinated effort with producer organisations Fedefruta and Fruséptima, BancoEstado has agreed to provide growers with a loan to finance the investment in roofing to protect cherries from rain damage. Offered at a reduced interest rate, the five-year loan will not have to be repaid until fruit has been sold on the export market.
Around 15 per cent of 2014/15 cherry crop was lost following last year’s rains, with some areas such as Maule losing as much as 40 per cent of production.
Antonio Walker, president of Fruséptima and director of Fedefruta, welcomed the move and said it represented a clear example of the public and private sectors coming together for the benefit of the industry.
“I want to thank agriculture minister Carlos Furche for having visited the region in December to see for himself the damage caused by the rain, and for having approached the vice president of BancoEstado, Guillermo Larrain to seek a solution to the problem,” he said.
Walker noted that of the 20,000ha of cherry orchards currently planted in Chile, only around 5 per cent are covered. “Rain can have a tremendous negative impact during harvesting, so it is vital that we find a way to protect our production,” he said.
Fedefruta president Juan Carolus Brown also praised the bank’s decision as “a major step” in helping producers to safeguard their farms against future losses.
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