Region of La Araucanía: The agrofrutícola industry gains ground on the forest industry

26/12/2014

The green and humid fields of La Araucanía little by little begin to dress differently. The large extensions of eucalyptus and pine forest companies, which were thought to be a perpetual industry, are giving way to the advancement of small plantations of blueberries, raspberries, currants and hazelnuts in an invisible phenomenon so far, but that Little is consolidated in the perspective of radically transforming the crops of the region and with it also the economic and social relations of its inhabitants.

The arrival of Chilean products to new world markets, new demands, more diversified, and consumers with greater purchasing power, has emboldened many small farmers to convert their crops and their soils, giving way to plantations of new fruit trees, genetically apt to exploit them at industry level and high demand in very specific niches.

Access to information on new products, to new technologies for the exploitation of crops, and to new international markets, has pushed farmers to make radical decisions for the future use of their agricultural fields.

Even many indigenous communities are also exploring being part of this phenomenon that could radically change the landscape of the southern territory.

The demand for fruit in international markets is important, in any of its forms, whether as fresh fruit, frozen, dry, or in all kinds of elaborations. But today new markets emerge for national fruit crops, and these are linked mainly to the world of cosmetics, aesthetics and the pharmaceutical industry.

Much of the production of European hazel, for example, is marketed in the form of "sale to the future" to meet the demand of the cosmetic industry.

In the case of blueberry cultivation, commercial exploration also transits the field of cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industry, due to the recognized antioxidant properties of blueberry and its natural antibiotic qualities.

Today there is technology to detach certain compounds of the fruit that are major in medicines, beauty creams or natural sunscreens.

Perhaps, due to this reality, the immediate future of the region is to become an area for the installation of large international laboratories, which provide directly the raw materials necessary for the development of its high-tech products.

Source: Blueberrieschile.cl