NUCIS number 10. December 2001. 48 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

Almond orchard of 'Non Pareil' under irrigated conditions
Table 10. Main varieties planted in Chile
Variety IV V Metropol. VI VII VIII Total %
Region Region Region Region Region Region (ha)
(ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha)
‘N.Pareil’ 72.36 292.59 1,290.91 692.50 15.6 1.10 2,348.56 45.9
‘Carmel’ 54.19 93.27 368.06 253.21 0.7 0 768.73 15.0
‘Texas’ 9.13 13.67 202.92 103.74 0 0.2 329.46 6.4
‘IXL’ 0 3.89 96.60 66.09 0 0 166.58 3.3
‘Merced’ 0.30 67.93 93.46 61.49 0 0 223.18 4.4
‘Butte’ 20.52 0 18.31 35.08 0 0 73.91 1.4
‘Price’ 40.97 27.60 52.89 36.03 0 0 157.49 3.1
‘Ruby’ 20.26 9.94 68.60 70.09 0 0 168.89 3.3
Others 18.2 53.4 461.3 312.0 11.3 0.6 874.6 17.1
TOTAL 235.9 562.7 26.3 1,630.3 27.6 1.9 5,111.4 100.0
Source: CIREN
Table 11. Plants to be sold in the 2001 season
V Metropolitan VI VIII
Varieties Region Region Region Region Total %
‘Butte’ - - 9,020 - 9,020 2.6
‘Carmel’ - 35,285 24,351 - 59,636 17.0
‘Fritz’ - 8,000 18,980 - 26,980 7.7
‘IXL’ - 500 - - 500 0.1
‘Manon’ - - 5,700 - 5,700 1.6
‘Merced’ /’Texa’ - 8,850 - 250 9,100 2.6
‘Mission’ - 200 - - 200 0
‘Morley’ - - 304 - 304 0
‘Non Pareil’ 2,000 88,828 78,730 400 169,558 48.3
‘Padre’ - - 9,000 - 9,000 2.6
‘Price’ - 13,033 8,600 - 21,633 6.2
‘Ruby’ - 5,010 6,455 - 11,465 3.3
‘Savannah’ - - 100 - 100 0
‘Solano’ - 13,000 8,500 - 21,500 6.1
‘Thompson’ - 10 6,000 - 6,010 1.7
Total 2,000 172,716 175,740 650 351,106 100.0
Source: Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero. Plants declaration: Region V: 40 %; M.R.: 60%;
Region VI: 83%; VIII: 100% of the nurseries
PRICES
The export price of almond kernels has
experienced a sustained increase during
the last few years, which has lead to
make new plantings.
In the period 1995-1997, FOB kernel price
was higher than US$ 6.00/kg, value
that explains partly the greater interest of
growers and investors in entering this business.
Furthermore, this interest has also
developed due to the fact that this specie
presents lower production costs than
other fruit trees, with possibilities of being
cultivated in the same agro climatic zones.
However, the price of the latest campaigns
has been much lower than the
average price of the period l995-1997
(Table 5).
Even though almonds have no great problems
in post-harvest and marketing, its
price is clearly determined by the Californians’
year production, and Chile becomes
a “price taker” country. This means
Chile has to adapt itself to the prices established
by California in the worldwide
market.
VARIETIES
Analysing the composition of the different
varieties planted, the introduction of new
Californian cultivars such as ‘Carmel’,
‘Merced’, ‘Butte’, ‘Price’ and ‘Ruby’ can
be observed, which represent 27.2% of
the total area planted. However, ‘Non Pareil’
is the main variety with a 45.9%, followed
by ‘Texas’ with 6,4% and ‘IXL’ still
appearing with 3.3%. The ‘Non Pareil’ variety
was obtained in California in 1879
and up to date has not been replaced due
to its high quality and commercial demand.
6 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 10 December 2001