Chile's fruit union and association of exporters have called on farmers to demonstrate on May 20 over the government's lack of action to dampen the negative effects of exchange rates.

Fedefruta and ASOEX have urged growers to gather in the commune of Requinoa in Chile's VI Region (O'Higgins), in a bid to raise government awareness about the competition difficulties facing the industry.

"This act will be a great opportunity to demonstrate and let everyone in the country know about the complex situation that thousands of small-to-medium producers and exporters are experiencing, who with an exchange rate of (CLP)460, are faced with the worst profitability crisis in 25 years," says Fedefruta president Antonio Walker.

He says the event will "not only deliver a diagnosis of the current situation, but we'll also propose concrete measures to rescue our country's fruit industry, which unfortunately is deeply uneased by the attitude of indolence by the government to address this problem".

"Through this act what is wanted is to peacefully raise awareness about the urgent needs of a sector that is set to turn Chile into an agricultural power. We expect a massive turnout of our associates, exporters, trade unions, agents of the supply chain and other unions."

Walker says the demonstrations will be a 'prelude' to a document the export sector will release, entailing several initiatives that could raise competitiveness for the Chilean economy.

Photo: Flickr, Mark Scott Johnson

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