Chile's minister of agriculture has suggested the country's 2012/13 fresh produce season will be tough one due to a lack of water.
The Latin American country is currently having to contend with one of its worst droughts in history, with the dry conditions threatening fruit production in the regions of Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Metropolitana and O'Higgins.
"We will have a difficult season throughout the country with approximately 23 per cent less water for irrigation if we compare the levels in reservoirs now with this time last year, which was also affected by drought," said Luis Mayol.
He added: "To that we have to add less snow in the mountains this year – about 30 to 50 per cent less than in a normal year."
Chile has a network of water user organisations, groups which were established to help mitigate the effects of a shortfall in supply and which administer scarce resources where they are needed.
The country's government, meanwhile, has invested 6bn pesos (€9.7m) in 14 related programmes run by the national irrigation commission to improve water availability in the short, medium and long-term.
