Initial forecasts for Chilean kiwifruit have been revised downwards as the full impact of February’s earthquake becomes evident.
The Metropolitan and VIII regions account for much of the national kiwifruit crop and were both hit hard, while the VII and VI regions where output is also high suffered to a lesser extent.
Nevertheless, producers are still hoping for export volumes to rise on last season’s levels, as output despite the quake is running ahead of last season as area under production has grown year on year.
Chileans are hoping that a late-season shortage of large-sized Italian kiwifruit in the marketplace in Europe will work to their advantage and that overall kiwifruit sendings to the old continent will rise 6.5 per cent year on year.
The kiwifruit committee of growers’ federation is appealing to producers to harvest only fruit that meets maturity and size criteria it has set out, so that there is no risk of damaging demand and market development going forward.
Meanwhile, growers’ leaders in the VII region are reporting a shortage of labour following the earthquake.
According to Fruséptima, which represents producers in the region, the number of workers in the orchards is some 30 per cent down on recent seasonal averages. This is because many are trying to repair what is left of their homes or have children that have not been able to return to school. The result is higher labour costs and a fear that export programmes in kiwifruit and top fruit may be disrupted.
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