Enhancing productivity and competitivness in the Chilean fruit exporting sector

The Technological Transference Program (PTEC in spanish) known as " Technological Develpment for the Export Fruit Industry and Technological challenges in Maule and Los Lagos Regions" started their develpments back at 2016 and it has an eight years of tenure. At the beggining the program used to focus to determine sectoral technology gaps, for then, define a portafolio of projects aimed at generating technological knowledge, strenghthening the technological equipment and infrastructure and boosting the human capital advancement, all of this with the aim of improving deversity in the country's fruit industry.

This initiative and its main characteristic involved the study of new variaties and patterns in the productive sectors identified as gasp or requirement, as well as the development of technological sets that give solution to current productive issues that set bounderies in productivity. Also, the program includes dissemination and organize transferance as an administration role, aiming to boost the activities reach for its transferance and dissemination.

Following this initiative that's how it was develop 9 projects in Blueberries, Kiwis, Raspberries, pest and weather. In regards of the blueberries, it has been carried out an initiative that aims for the varietal change in order to improve the quality of the fruit, as well as crop management improvement of new varieties and thier post harvest quality, everything in order to improved the position of the Chilean blueberry. All these development are handled by INIA, Universidad de Concepción College and the Chilean Blueberry Committee-ASOEX.

The Raspberry has been working to develop new varieties that are able to handle the main pest and sickness of these fruits, taking in consideration better adapted condition hydric stress development

In the case of Kiwi, a predictive method is being developed to estimate their sizes, selection of protocols and methodologies for the establishement in Chile of genetic material. In addition of what has been mentioned above, there are works fot the technology sets for the geomatic for the intelligance management of biotic and biotic variables in a fruit growing territory. A technological set is also being developed for an integrated pest management for the fruit export growing sector, aiming to incorporate natural enemies for controling the pests of quarentine importance.