Organic production of blueberries: an opportunity for the southern area
The Chilean production of blueberries has a restriction of access to the North American market for the regions of O'Higgins, Maule and Bío Bío. The presence of Lobesia Botrana or the grapevine moth in the orchards of the central zone caused the United States to determine that the fresh fruit is fumigated before being exported to that country.
This quarantine treatment, explains Andrés Armstrong, executive director of the Committee of Blueberries, makes lose the organic status of this Berry in the United States. In this scenario, the orchards located from La Araucanía to the south emerge as an opportunity to develop without restrictions the organic blueberry market in Chile and thus maintain an interesting offer for the United States, a country that received the 85% of shipments last season. organic from our country.
"The import market showed that the 85% of organic production in Chile went to the United States, it is a relevant market for us. Last season, for the first time, we were able to follow the export volume which was an 9,2% on the total export of fresh blueberries, "explains Armstrong, who adds that although it is a more complex production model, it is compensated with an extra price.
The payment for the organic fruit can reach up to 30% more than the fruit produced in a conventional way.
EXPORTS
According to the data of the Committee of Blueberries during the season 2017-2018 Chile exported 110.240 tons of fresh blueberries, of which 9.984 tons are organic.
In detail, La Araucanía leads shipments with 4.037 tons, an 40% share; then comes Los Rios with 2.142 tons (21% share), while Los Lagos with 836 tons has an 8% share of the total organic fresh fruit exported.
"If one adds plantations in Chile one 30% is located in the Maule, one 30% in the Bío Bío and one 30% from La Araucanía in the south. The organic offer is diminished, because we have a restriction in an important part of the producing area. If we consider this, the surface is still low. "
SEMINARY
The numbers, without a doubt, demonstrate the potential of the southern zone in the consolidation of this market. From here the interest and the need of the Committee of Blueberries to develop the seminar: "A look at the organic production of blueberries of southern Chile".
At the Hotel Diego de Almagro, not only the statistics of the 2017-2018 season and the future challenges of organic production were analyzed, but also the experience and international market of organic blueberries were discussed.
Julia Pinto, technical manager of the Committee of Blueberries, explained that this activity was free. According to the expert, the seminar aimed to provide tools to producers and clear doubts about the cultivation of organic blueberries.
"We want to deliver tools to producers who have doubts about what is happening in the organic world and in the production process. There are some orchards that are in transition, others would like to enter this process and others that are already working in organic production. What we want is to deliver a battery of tools that allow them to make informed decisions, "says Pinto.
FROM THE EXPERIENCE
Carlos Klein, organic producer of La Araucanía, began experimenting with this crop at the end of the 80 decade. His has always been the natural method, developing a production model away from the use of pesticides and fertilizers of hard chemical origin.
Together with a brother agronomist, like him, in 1988 they brought rooted stakes from Germany of the intermediate varieties and started with a small plot in Temuco.
"Like many other people, we begin to experiment. What we did was not an organic crop, but a crop in natural forms. The difference is that to be organic you have to have a certificate and follow rules that are well established and that determine the different countries that buy this organic fruit, "says this farmer.
Since then "everything has been an apprenticeship" emphasizes Klein, who went from having two hectares under a natural model to 20 hectares under organic certification in the commune of Freire the year 2005.
"We are where we are, learning more every day, because doing organic production means a detailed study of the conditions of each property, of each place. One must know very well their agrosystem, their soil, the agroclimatic conditions, the conditions of temperatures, of rain, of hail and which are the most suitable varieties. That takes a lot of time, a lot of dedication. It never ends, "he says.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CRANBERRIES
The experience of this agronomist is undoubted, that is why it is a safe source when talking about climate change and its effect on the production of organic blueberries.
Klein argues that climate change is a slow process. Among the different factors of this phenomenon, what may be affecting this crop the most, he says, is ultraviolet radiation, for example, excessive high temperatures in summer.
"This whole process deserves to know what is happening with the plant, to know what is happening with the fruit and what is most interesting for the organic concept is to know if all this model that has been developed almost 40 years ago in Chile resists climate change "
It emphasizes that there are varieties that truly face excessive summer temperatures, as they have already happened from Talca to the south, of 35 degrees and more, they do not resist.
"That deserves a lot of observation and research and in the case of organic much more, because the tools and resources that organic production has are different and are lower in general to conventional production," he says.
GENETIC MATERIAL
From all that experience in Temuco they spent the 2005 year in an orchard in Freire where they manage more than 20 hectares of certified organic blueberries with more modern varieties. It is genetic material from California and Oregon in the United States.
How to choose the right variety for a blueberry garden? According to Klein, there are several criteria, but the main one is the harvest date, based on the fact that the quality of the fruit is adequate.
"What is happening in our country is that we are skipping stages that are basic and fundamental, for example the validation of new varieties; that is, the validation of technology. Here the technology is brought and we plant it from a trip and it is the producers who bear the risk of seeing if it works or not, if it adapts or responds to what is expected of it ", explains the producer, who emphasizes that this stage It should be in the hands, as it happens in developed countries, of special institutions such as universities and institutes.
"As producers we are facing a bigger issue and it is post-harvest. The varieties are not responding, they are excellent but they do not resist well the transport that for Chile is fundamental. We need a good quality of blueberry in flavor, size, but more than anything value and firmness, since it must withstand the 28 days of travel to the US, 35 and 40 days of travel to Europe and to say it has to reach China or to India, "he sums up.
WHY ORGANIC?
Because Klein decided to implement an organic garden. The answer is "quite personal", he says and he is right. His professional history, his ethics and his respect for ecology motivated his decision.
First he was linked as a professor in two universities with the teaching of general ecology and applied ecology, then he was working for more than 20 years in different countries with the cooperation of the German government in biological control and integrated pest management.
"Then, when I arrived in Chile and produced blueberries, I obviously had to be organic. Otherwise I was not interested, I wanted to produce blueberries under ecological parameters, "he says.
Klein emphasizes that in Chile there is a subject that has not yet been analyzed in depth, the ethical issue.
"We are exporting 110 millions of kilos of blueberries for fresh and much of it is being based on destroying our own ecosystems. We are using in the conventional production of blueberries pesticides, we are polluting our waters, soils, we are destroying our biodiversity to export fruit and that other countries enjoy our blueberries ".
Emphasizes that the issue of sustainability must be addressed. "It is absurd that Chile as an exporting country compromises our environment, our quality of water and soil to export fruit to other countries. There are people who think differently. " concludes.
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