Indap’s national director participated in the delivery of resources and technical assistance to 35 fruit producers of that commune and San Pedro.
Direct financing through an incentive to support the management of the strawberry nematode and a training workshop for the sustainable control of the pest, received 35 affected producers, users of the Institute for Agricultural Development (INDAP) in the communes of Melipilla and San Pedro, in the Metropolitan region.
The national director of this service, Santiago Rojas; the provincial presidential delegate of Melipilla, Sandra Saavedra; and the mayor of San Pedro, Emilio Cerda, participated in the activity carried out at the Indap Melipilla Area Agency and which is part of the recent emergency measures announced by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Pest control and sustainable agriculture
The rThe resources received by these fruit producers will allow them to acquire pesticides or application services, authorized by the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG). In the training, meanwhile, they received information on cultural management and biostimulants to promote responsible and sustainable control of the pest that affects the field.
“We hope this support will be very useful,” declared Santiago Rojas, who specified that in addition to the resources, it is important that they receive training in the “cultural management of strawberries, what to do with contaminated plants or how to manage orchards.”
The authority pointed out that the commitment is to advance knowledge for the development of “a more sustainable agriculture, more adapted to climate change, which incorporates microorganisms or fertilizers that can be produced locally to partially reduce dependence on consumption external”. In addition, he stressed that producers know a lot about this and Indap is interested in “generating spaces for exchange”.
Emilia Flores, president of the Cooperativa de Frutilleros de San Pedro, especially thanked the agricultural entity and Prodesal, since, she said, “this moment is quite complicated because production has dropped and prices are also very low which makes it difficult for all of us. The support is relevant so that we can continue our work.”
The thin Saavedra, meanwhile, mentioned that together with the aid “we work hard on the diagnosis, the release of uncontaminated plants, reviewing the market, because it is quite restricted and we need more suppliers; and we are also working to bring more technology, more innovation, to continue producing this exquisite strawberry.”
Estimated impact and call to activate surveillance
The number of Indap users who bought plants in nurseries from which the contaminated specimens came, and who are estimated to be potentially affected, are 1,607, with a possibly affected area of 1,029 hectares in various regions.
Estimates from the INDAP teams indicate that in the Metropolitan area around 158 users bought these plants and so far 142 have completed affidavits of affectation, one of the ways to activate surveillance and access help.
The Ministry of Agriculture is promoting a control plan in which it allocated $789,300,000 to the institution to support the fruit growers who use this service. Of this figure, 182 million were allocated to the Metropolitan region.
The support is focused on resources aimed at financing pesticides authorized by the SAG, financing of recommended biostimulants by INIA, or pesticide application services authorized by the SAG.
In case of presenting symptoms, the main call for strawberry producers is to contact the SAG or their Indap Area Office.