Reducing the food vulnerability of Chile, highly dependent on imports of basic products, such as legumes, wheat and potatoes, is one of the main objectives of the Program to promote traditional crops, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and executed by Indap.
According to the director of Indap Ñuble, Fernanda Azócar, $1,578 million will be allocated in the region to support 343 small farmers who are users of Indap, specifically in technical advice, investments and property incentives, as well as in the hiring of a commercial manager.
For Indap, traditional crops are those with deep roots in Chilean agricultural culture and food, but in some cases their national production has decreased. These are: cereals (rice, wheat, corn, oats, etc.), legumes (lentils, beans, chickpeas, broad beans, etc.) and potatoes.
Various factors, such as the loss of competitiveness of many producers, the lack of a serious State policy that promotes agriculture and strong competition for land use, have contributed to the sustained decrease in the area of traditional crops during the last three decades both in Chile and in Ñuble.
In this sense, Azócar maintained that the main objectives of this two-year program (2024-2025) are to increase the area of traditional crops under conditions of agricultural sustainability, ensure food sovereignty and improve the marketing of cereals. legumes and potatoes produced by peasant family farming. This, in a context of rising costs and following the line of the “Sowing for Chile” program.
Asked about coverage, she specified that the 343 Ñuble beneficiaries will be served by eight operational units in San Carlos, Ñiquén, El Carmen, San Ignacio, Pemuco and Yungay. “There are currently five units in operation, with users from San Carlos and Ñiquén; and in the coming weeks three more units will be added to support producers from El Carmen, San Ignacio, Pemuco and Yungay,” said the director of Indap, who stated that it is expected to reach 100% coverage in the second year of the program’s execution. .
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Regarding the amounts, Fernanda Azócar stressed that “the co-financing by Indap is the highest of our programmatic offer.”
In Ñuble, this year $195 million will be allocated for technical advice to farmers; plus $697 million for property incentives, for example, for the purchase of machinery or construction of warehouses, with a maximum limit per user of $4.5 million (70% of the investment).
Regarding the line of investments, $686 million are considered for 2024, either for access to inputs (seeds, fertilizers, biofertilizers, foliar fertilizers, pesticides, etc.), or the contracting of services for different tasks (harvest, sowing, incorporation of stubble, etc.). In both cases, the contribution is equivalent to $200,000 per hectare to each user per year, with a limit of 5 hectares, that is, $1 million (70% of the investment).
The commercial manager will also have a relevant role, a figure that will allow activating local markets for the different items, explained the professional.
At the national level, $7,582 million will be invested to benefit 1,605 producers between the regions of Valparaíso and La Araucanía.
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