During this Monday the Ministry of Agriculture decreed an agricultural emergency due to the presence of the strawberry nematode, Aphelenchoides fragariae, this after investigations carried out by the Livestock Agricultural Service (SAG), which will allow the Government of the President Gabriel Boric look for the formulas to go in support of the affected producers and producers.
Faced with this situation, the Minister of Agriculture, Stephen Valenzuelaindicated that “based on the data from the SAG that corroborate the appearance of a plague in the country’s strawberry plantations, which are focused on the center-south, has led us to make the decision, in a complementary manner with other agricultural emergencies, also declare an agricultural emergency in that area where this nematode is affecting the production of strawberries”.
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“We make this agricultural emergency declaration because we are not going to leave any strawberry producer alone, since most of them are small producers from Melipilla, San Pedro, Litueche, Pelluhue, Chanco (…) With Dipres we are already in dialogue to reallocate the ministry’s own resources and, eventually, additional government resources to be able to control this plague and in this the INIA has been very proactive and has already detected molecules that can help combat this plague,” he added.
The Secretary of State made these statements in the middle of a press point organized in conjunction with the National Director(s) of the SAG, Andrea Collaoand the national director of the Agricultural Development Institute (INDAP), Santiago Rojas.
Collao specified that “the strawberry nematode is a pest that mainly causes damage to the yield of the plants. People can consume the strawberries without problems, as it does not affect their health. The Service has been working with the producers from the very beginning. affected, mainly from the Maule, Metropolitan and Valparaíso regions, establishing a series of sanitary measures in order to minimize the impact on their production, as well as the spread of the plague”.
Meanwhile, Rojas pointed out that “from INDAP we are working collaboratively with the agricultural services to face this new emergency that could affect the production of strawberries throughout our country. As a service we are taking concrete actions that will help our farmers, such as financial resources, credit support, training measures for prevention and management to avoid further spread of the pest”.
Other investigations
Parallel to the studies carried out by the SAG, the Ministry of Agriculture is working together with the Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) to better monitor this emergency through its laboratories in the affected regions, where it will search for the formula in molecules to control the plague. It will have the support of the Agricultural Innovation Foundation (FIA).
In addition, from the Ministry they call on producers who suspect the presence of the nematode in their plantations to file the respective complaint at the nearest SAG office or at the following email: [email protected]
today the minister @tvalenzuelavt beside @sagchile, @INDAP_Chile and @iniachile declared agricultural emergency in the face of the quarantine plague that affects strawberries ?
More information ?? https://t.co/0jqlqih6ZL pic.twitter.com/ap6bBqKsCv
— Ministry of Agriculture of Chile ?? (@MinagriCL) August 22, 2022
