Adverse weather is once again troubling Chilean cherry producers, with unexpected rains hitting Chile’s northern central regions on Nov. 10.

A phenomenon likely attributed to El Niño, rains are not only highly uncommon during the spring and summer months in Chile, but these  may  become the most intense November rains in over a decade.

Expert cherry consultant Walter Masman tells FreshFruitPortal.com that early varieties will be the most affected, with the Santina and Royal Dawn varieties seeing “extensive damage”.

To preserve as much of the harvest as possible, Chilean authorities issued recommendations for when  the rains pass.

Chilean Federation of Fruit Producers (Fedefruta) President Jorge Valenzuela says that the scenario looks “complicated for fruit producers in the country” and that growers are focusing on salvaging as much fruit as possible.

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Regarding impact on export volumes, Valenzuela says that damage assessment is not yet their priority.

“Do not ask us about loss estimates, about price increases, about the dimension of the impact. Right now the situation is very difficult. For the time being, Fedefruta is sharing technical information to fruit growers in order to face this real fruit emergency in the best way possible,” he says.