The National Director of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), Angel Sartori, visited the Region of Coquimbo and toured the SAG-USDA Inspection Site to publicize the development of exports through this Site, which has increased its production by 20% when compared to the same date of the last season, which is positive news for the export sector.
During his visit, the National Director of SAG, Angel Sartori, said that "this Inspection Site can improve all export procedures. The virtue of the SAG, ASOEX and USDA inspection centers is that the fruit inspected there can reach consumers directly in the United States, which is a tremendous advantage for producers. They save time, as logistics are much more appropriate, benefiting all. It's very interesting that this Site was installed in the region of Coquimbo, which mainly works with citrus, but that can work with other products."
Better water conditions boost production
According to the SAG, exports in the 2016-2017 season have increased by more than 60% when compared to the 2015-2016 season. The Regional Director of Asoex in the Region of Coquimbo, Cristian Sotomayor, said this increase was due to the region's better water conditions. "We currently have 60% more fruit than in the season when we were affected by the drought (...) We are quite happy because we have water and we have a very important additional volume compared to the past seasons."
In this regard, the Seremi of Agriculture, Andres Chiang said that "our region's reservoir capacity is above 70%. We have more than 1.400 million cubic meters throughout the Region of Coquimbo. It is the region that has the largest capacity of water accumulation. Part of this has resulted in an increase of mandarins, with two thousand four hundred million boxes. Our challenge is working together with the private and public sector to open other markets, such as the Asian market, which is has been a great actor for other sectors of the country."
The United States is the main import market
Cristian Sotomayor said that "the United States accounted for 50% of the volume of fruit exported from the region. The United States also accounts for 90% of the exports of certain fruits, such as mandarins, clementines, and oranges; it is a tremendously important market for the region and the country."
It should be noted that the regulation for the entry of citrus fruits to the United States establishes, as an option to the entry, the inspection of the fruits, backed by a Systems approach based on the in situ low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis certification and the application of mitigation measures in the fruit's packaging process.
This is the alternative to the fumigation with methyl bromide quaranty treatment, which mainly affects fruit's quality, as it deteriorates it and decreases its post harvest life, and also increases its cost.
Source: diarioeldia.cl