The Chilean blueberry committee has said that frosts on 22 November have affected blueberry output in the IX, X and XVI regions of the country to varying degrees. These regions between them account for about 15 per cent of the crop.
A report released by the committee stated: “The final count shows an average decline in the areas of 22 per cent on estimated production levels, in other words production will be down by some 5,000 tonnes.”
The committee’s report calculates that exports will fall by some 2,932t as a result and stresses that these effects are minimal as the bulk of blueberry output in Chile is from two other regions. The committee said the frosts will most likely serve to balance out the peaks of production from January until the end of the export season in April.
