The assessment, conducted by the Center for Information on Natural Resources (Ciren) of the Ministry of Agriculture, indicated that 274,842 hectares were affected across the regions from Valparaíso to Biobío, resulting in losses amounting to US$900 million.

Minister Valenzuela addressed the damage suffered by farmers, stating, “There’s significant damage to the land and production, as well as to irrigation systems and channels, everything that has a fundamental impact. Additionally, there’s loss of forage and crops, damage to parts of the fruit industry, and direct harm to production.”

The President of the SNA, Antonio Walker, indicated that they share the ministry’s diagnosis, as “this second bout of severe weather has caused significant harm in rural areas, considerable damage to Chilean agriculture, and has impacted agricultural workers. We’re talking about damage exceeding US$1 billion, a diagnosis that is well-aligned with the Ministry of Agriculture. We have two objectives here: one is to restore water infrastructure as soon as possible, as we need to irrigate in the last week of September, or else we’ll further exacerbate the damage caused by this severe weather front.”

The Ministry of Economy has agreed to include the agricultural sector as a significant part of the Fogape credits (state fund).