During his agenda in India, China and Thailand, Marambio expressed his concern over the absence of a comprehensive water strategy that would allow the fruit industry to plan its development over the next decade. As he explained in a report published by DF, the sector needs water to produce, and this issue should occupy a priority place in Chile’s growth agenda.
“Today, the problem is not the markets for our production, but the internal constraints that are preventing us from producing. Water is our Achilles’ heel. We need water to produce. And we do not see this issue on the country’s growth agenda, although it should be there,” said the president of Frutas de Chile.
100,000 new hectares under irrigation
Frutas de Chile believes the country has significant growth potential that is being held back by water scarcity and the lack of adequate infrastructure. According to the association’s estimates, every hectare incorporated into a safe and technologically advanced irrigation system generates a direct economic impact of US$80,000 for the Chilean economy.
On this basis, Marambio has proposed a national target of adding 100,000 new hectares under irrigation by 2030, which would represent an injection of US$8 billion into Chile’s economy. In addition to the economic impact, this productive expansion would enable the creation of around 160,000 permanent and stable jobs in agricultural areas.
Chile’s fruit industry currently covers an estimated area of 370,000 hectares, driven in recent years by expanding crops such as hazelnuts and walnuts.
A pending water strategy
The fruit industry association has submitted six proposals to reactivate the sector’s economic growth. However, according to the organisation, the main shortcomings are concentrated in the area of infrastructure. Although progress has been recognised in port infrastructure planning for the coming decades, water policy remains a pending issue.
Marambio has called for a broader and more coordinated vision that goes beyond the development of desalination plants alone. In his view, it is necessary to define how water will be transported, how possible inter-basin transfers will be structured, what role irrigation will play and how aquifer recharge will be addressed.
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“Only desalination plants are being considered; but there is no plan for how to transport the water produced by those plants, or water that may come from a water highway, inter-basin transfer, irrigation or aquifer recharge. We do not see an agenda in that regard,” he stressed.
The president of Frutas de Chile expects to meet soon with government representatives to convey the need to design a robust water plan for the 2030-2035 period.
A key sector for the Chilean economy
Fruit production has established itself as Chile’s second most important export sector, behind only copper mining. However, the association stresses that fruit has a far more decentralised territorial impact, as its activity extends across much of the country.
“We cover practically 14 regions of the country, and that sets us apart from other productive sectors, which are concentrated in just a couple,” Marambio said. According to the industry leader, 75% of fruit activity takes place and generates value directly in Chile’s regions.
Water to sustain competitiveness
For Frutas de Chile, moving forward with long-term water planning is not only a sectoral demand, but a necessary condition to sustain export competitiveness, job creation and rural development.
The association insists that the country has international markets in which it can continue to grow, but needs to resolve its internal constraints in order to fully take advantage of these opportunities. In this context, water infrastructure emerges as one of the decisive factors for the future of Chilean fruit.
