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Palta Hass - Comité de Paltas

Hass avocado plantations and their national distribution.

At the moment in the country we have about 29.000 hectares of avocados, 26.000 of which are Hass avocados.
In the past 5 or 6 years, the majority of the new plantations were located on hills. The reasons for this are the following:

- Thermal difference. We found large thermal differences between lower soils and soils from hills. If we compare lower soils with those at 50 meters altitude, its possible to find a difference of up to 3 degrees.
- There are difficulties locating soils appropriate for planting Hass avocados.

In Chile, there are avocado plantations 400 kilometers north and 150 kilometers south, of the capital of Santiago. More of 75 % of those plantations are located at a maximum of no more than 250 kilometers from the capitol.
Chile



The long and narrow Chilean territory is located in the far end of South America,

flanked by the imposing heights of the Andes mountain range and the immensity of the Pacific Ocean.

In its long geography, it is possible to find a great variety of landscape.

It is because of this that in the North we find the solitude of the mountain plains, one of the most extensive desert zones of the world, rich in a wide variety of minerals. If we move to the extreme South, we will arrive at the legendary southernmost seas and the millenary Antarctic ice.

In the extensive valley that is formed between sea and mountains, it is possible to find lakes, volcanoes, and forests; and it is also there where the largest fruit industry in the Southern Hemisphere has been developed.




Strategic Location


Due to its geographic position, between the 18º and 57º parallels of South Latitude, Chile’s vegetable and fruit production occurs when the harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere has almost ended.

This long geography, flanked by the immense natural colossus of sea and mountain, has generated a great diversity of climates and microclimates, which add to the favorable conditions of the soil and the application of the most modern technologies. In the production as well as the conservation stage, the possibility exists to offer the world a wide range of vegetable and fruit products of excellent quality during the greater part of the year.

The great development that the Chilean fruit culture exhibits today, is mainly due to the vision and push of an important group of producers, whom in conjunction with local merchants, believed in the development of the fruit business. In this sense, not only have they invested large amounts of money in this activity, but they have also incorporated the latest technologies in production and post harvest areas.

This remarkable development and growth have been empowered by Chilean policies of aperture to foreign commerce, within an economic frame that has privileged free trade. This scenario has made important investments possible in the fruit growing area, as well as in the infrastructure and required personnel training areas.



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