In the case of this region, the situation is more controlled, but the same does not happen further south where the agricultural unions have already expressed their objections. Germán Gómez, executive director of the Los Ríos Region Agricultural and Livestock Society, Saval FG, explains that it has been a difficult period for the sector due to the decrease in seasonal workers, especially for blueberries, a fruit tree that has the largest surface significant (1.615 ha)

"The main cause of this drop is the limitation required by the pandemic. The quarantine restrictions on the movement of day laborers have limited the availability of people ”, he says.

“There is difficulty and even dissemination in the media has been chosen by offering work spaces. In addition, there has been a constant improvement of working conditions and other benefits, thinking of motivating people to be as comfortable as possible. Obviously, this includes the concern to implement all the safeguards and biosecurity and prevention measures against Covid-19. According to information from the region, a great majority of orchards are working with 30% to 50% fewer people, ”says Gómez.

Regarding the profile of the harvesters, the executive director of Saval, specifies that the vast majority are women. "In 60% of them, they are housewives, who take advantage of the season to improve their income, approximately 20% are students and the rest are older adults."

In the Los Lagos region the situation is also complex. Christian Arntz, president of the Sociedad Agrícola y Ganadera de Osorno, Sago, warns that one of the reasons behind this shortage of harvesters is misinformation linked to the delivery of social benefits as a result of the health crisis.

"We are in the middle of the harvest season of the most relevant fruit trees in our area and there have been difficulties in getting harvesters. Producers continue to have problems that are associated with the pandemic. People count on the social benefits to be able to overcome this crisis, but there is a lack of definition on this issue. We are asking the authorities to make the message clearer, because people say: I am not going to go to work, because I am going to lose my benefits ”.

Arntz emphasizes that clear information must be given in this regard, since there is still all of February to finish the fruit season.

“We call on the Government, particularly the Seremía del Trabajo, so that there is a clear definition in this regard, because people are left with the idea that by working for a month or a month and a half they can lose their benefits. This situation discourages them, despite the fact that good prices are being paid for the harvest. They don't want to lose their social bonuses. This generates a problem for us and for them too, because it deprives them of having greater income to better overcome the pandemic that will continue to cause problems in 2021, ″ emphasizes the union leader.

EXPERIENCE IN ARAUCANÍA

In September 2020 in the region of La Araucanía, the 20/21 season harvest began to be planned. For this, the Seremi del Trabajo y Previsión Social headed a technical table that brought together the regional representatives of mutual societies and trade union organizations linked to the agricultural sector. From there an intersectoral coordination work was born for the formulation of hygiene and safety protocols focused on the prevention of the virus in the workplace.

“From all this work, a Covid-19 Harvest protocol for La Araucanía emerged and the Undersecretary of Labor even came. In November, the delivery of a document was completed and that helped many companies not to have problems with the Labor Directorate and the Health Service due to the issue of sanctions or inspections. Today many of these companies have this document displayed at their facilities ”, explains Carlos Inostroza, president of Araucanía Frutícola.

Inostroza points out that several details were considered, including the issue of transportation and how the harvesters were going to enter the barracks. "There was a four-month job and all that is being applied in the region, so our fruit is being harvested, exported and sent to destination markets both nationally and internationally without major problems," he emphasizes. the leader.

This sector is of vital importance for the region. The results of the fruit registry at the regional level indicate that the area in 2019 reached 14.440 hectares. In addition, around 14 thousand people are required to harvest the total plantations that are in production in La Araucanía.

“This sector is an important source of jobs and healthy food for Chile and the world, so it must continue to move. So far we have not had major problems in the participation of the growers. The important thing here is that the workers have understood the dynamics of this new reality, of how to enter the orchards and of the care measures that must be taken. The companies have also incurred costs for the benefit of the workers ”, emphasizes Carlos Inostroza.

This is the case of Agrícola Arroyo Grande, in the Fundo Santa Ana, a company that began the harvest season on December 21. His orchard, more than 500 hectares located in the commune of Victoria, requires a high number of harvesters.

Publications on Facebook, radio promotion were some of the strategies used to attract workers, some reluctant to participate for fear of contracting the virus.

“At first it was difficult to recruit harvesters. This season was much more complex. The fear of contagion and the approval of 10% of the AFPs, plus the bonuses delivered by the government in December discouraged worker participation at first. We had to extend our search radius and expand to all of La Araucanía and even other regions. But now we are well, we are happy because this process is developing without complications, ”says Carolina Bello Flores, in charge of Recruitment.

“People were afraid of being exposed to the virus. More than being in the field, they feared the transfer. We had to resort to other communes, because the people from the surroundings did not come. Now we have growers from all over the Province of Malleco, from some communes in Cautín and the Bío Bío region such as Los Ángeles and Negrete ”, says Bello, who adds that they have already overcome this complex stage.

"We already have enough people, the fruit is controlled and the harvest is developing in a good way and under all security measures to prevent Covid-19. We plan to finish the harvest at the end of January," he says.

Agrícola Arroyo Grande this season has approach buses from various points in the region and an attractive payment for those interested in participating in the harvest.

“It is difficult to calculate how much each worker earns per day, because the performance of each one varies, but we could say that on average they harvest 50 kilos per day and we have even had workers who have reached 140 kilos. They are very focused and see in this work a very good job opportunity ”, he concludes.

AND CHERRIES

In the cherry harvest, a decrease in available harvesters was also detected; however, as it was a more intensive and better paid work, this was resolved more quickly.

Andreas Köbrich, general secretary of the Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola de Temuco, Sofo, specifies that in general the workforce is restricted in the area.

“Not all the people went out to harvest as they did in previous years, and this is mostly seen in the blueberry orchards. The fact that more people are needed for this work is one of the reasons, ”says Köbrich.

The executive secretary of Sofo explains that the cherry harvest is mainly done on the top of a ladder and has other complications specific to this fruit tree, so that workers who exclusively dedicate themselves to this crop “have experience”, he says. ; it is also more attractive from the point of view of remuneration.

“The remunerations that a cherry picker can achieve are higher. Normally in the harvest there is a fixed fraction and another variable that depends on what each harvester does. There are people who are more openly dedicated to this harvest. These are groups that are exclusively dedicated to this task and make several crops in the season. The harvest from a garden will depend on the surface, but they do not last beyond 15 days, not so with blueberries where the harvest period is longer. Cherry growers are moving from north to south and wages often double that of blueberries, ”says Köbrich.

Francisco Medina, owner of Agrícola Los Tatas, a property located in the Tijeral sector, Renaico commune, the harvest has already finished. This is the fourth season that its high-quality fruit has been exported to China.

Six days of intense work, 150 people plus the plant team, were enough to harvest 108.000 kilos of cherries from his orchard. Although the fruit collection did not face major problems and was carried out within the expected time, this entrepreneur noted less interest in participating this season.

“Due to the payment of 10% of the AFP there were fewer people interested in harvesting in the area. In our case, the cherries were already removed from the orchard and left for their destination last Saturday (February 9) with the aim of being available for the Chinese New Year ”, asserts this producer, who highlighted the profile of the harvesters.

“These are people who have been working since October in this type of garden, with significant experience. A person is taking an average of 350 kilos a day and interesting payments. In some cases, they reach $ 130 a day, ”he says.

Although the scenario facing the season is still uncertain - the clearest data will be once the Chinese New Year arrives on February 15 - Francisco Medina is optimistic.

“Last year I gave the cat the stick. I took the harvest 7 days before and I had no problems with the sale of the cherry. I hope this year will be good anyway, although with the restrictions due to the pandemic you never know. But, despite this health crisis, we are stronger than ever, because whoever is born a cicada dies singing. The truth is that neither the issue of the pandemic, nor the government issue has stopped my project. We go with everything ”, he concludes.