A government-backed experimental truffle plantation in Chile could become the southernmost location in the world to grow the lucrative delicacy, as producers hope to imitate the success of some European countries. 

The project is based in the Patagonian XI (Aysen) region, which is the second most southern in the country and has livestock as its main agricultural focus.

Encouraging progress has been seen since the initiative's establishment in 2013.

The coordinator of the project, which is being supported by the Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) and executed by the Valley Explorers Society, explained the region's climatic differences from major truffle producing countries like France and Italy were not as big as one might expect.

In an FIA release, Claudia Cerda said truffles required hot summers and very cold winters.

"France and Italy have average summer temperatures of 19°C (66°F), which is only 3°C higher than this part of Chile where we're realizing this project, and in winter we have very similar conditions of around 6°C (43°F)," she said.

Cerda also said the soil was being worked on to ensure it had the good drainage needed for truffle production, as well as the correct pH level.

Two varieties being tested on the plantation are the Tuber melanosporum (black truffle) and Tuber aestivum (summer truffle), which are produced from a mycorrhiza - a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and tree roots - with three oak tree species new to the region.

The tree species are Quercus robur, Quercus ilex and Quercus cerris, which are said to yield some of the best results in terms of truffle prodution.

FIA head Fernando Arancibia said the project had two key goals. The first involved establishing the trees that were new to the region, and the second was ensuring the survival of the mycorrhizas on the tree roots.

"The last calculations show that 97% of the trees adapted to the conditions. Regarding the second objective, we have an infestation level of 80% for Tuber melanosporum and 84% for Tuber aestivum, which is very good news for the Aysen region," he said.

Cerda said she was happy and optimistic with the project's progress, believing that with proper management and care the initiative would one day produce the "southernmost truffles in the world."

The FIA release also highlighted that in Europe truffle production often yielded between 30kg-40kg (66-88 pounds) per hectare on plantations around 15 years old.

In Chile the most successful case has been in Talca, in the central VII (Maule) region, where growers are in their sixth year of production and currently achieving 7kg (15 pounds) per hectare.

The counterseasonal supply has led the black truffles to fetch around US$1,300 per kilo.

Photo: FIA

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