Agriculture in Chile encompasses a wide range of different activities due to the country's particular geography, climate, geology and human factors. Historically, agriculture has been one of the bases of Chile's economy; in 2007, it and allied sectors, like forestry, logging, and fishing, accounted for only 4.9% of the GDP and 13.6% of the country's labor force. Major agricultural products include grapes, apples, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, beans, beef, poultry, wool, fish and timber.The World Factbook -CIA, 2008-02-27
Due to its geographical isolation and strict customs policies, Chile is free from mad cow disease and diseases brought by Drosophilidae and Phylloxera; this, its different harvest season compared to countries in the Northern Hemisphere, and its wide range of agricultural conditions are considered its main comparative advantages. However, the mountainous landscape limits the extent and intensity of agriculture. Only 2.62% of the country's territory is arable land.
Chile's principal growing region and agricultural heartland is the Central Valley, bounded by the Chilean Coast Range to the west, the Andes to the east, Aconcagua River to the north, and Bío-Bío River to the south. In the northern half of Chile, cultivation is highly dependent on irrigation. South of the Central Valley, cultivation has gradually been replaced by aquaculture, silviculture, sheep and cattle farming.
Production
Chile is one of the 5 largest world producers of cherry and cranberry, and one of the 10 largest world producers of grape, apple, kiwifruit, peach, plum and hazelnut, focusing on exporting high-value fruits.Chile en 2018, por FAO
In 2018, Chile was the 9th largest producer of grape in the world, with 2 million tons produced; the 10th largest producer of apple in the world, with 1.7 million tons produced; and the 6th largest producer of kiwifruit in the world, with 230 thousand tons produced, in addition to producing 1.4 million tons of wheat, 1.1 million tons of maize, 1.1 million tons of potato, 951 thousand tons of tomato, 571 thousand tons of oats, 368 thousand tons of onion, 319 thousand tons of peach, 280 thousand tons of pear, 192 thousand tons of rice, 170 thousand tons of barley, 155 thousand tons of cherry, 151 thousand tons of lemon, 118 thousand tons of tangerine, 113 thousand tons of orange, 110 thousand tons of olives, 106 thousand tons of cranberry, in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.Chile production in 2018, by FAO
Aquaculture in Chile
Wine
Forestry
Agriculture by natural region
Norte Grande The Norte Grande region covers most of Atacama Desert and its crop agriculture is contracted around small oases, such as Pica (known for its Limón de Pica) and Pozo Almonte. The use of water from Loa River and other streams is limited due to contamination with heavy metals from the mining industry. Some minor subsistence agriculture is practised in Loa River. Recently these waters are being used for growing non-edible plants, such as flowers. In Norte Grande's Puna plateau, indigenous Aymaras practise traditional llama and alpaca herding.
Norte Chico Norte Chico has a semi-arid climate that limits agriculture to the Transverse Valleys, namely; Choapa, Copiapó, Elqui, Limarí and Aconcagua. Most agriculture here is dependent on irrigation. Norte Chico is known for its production of grapes for Pisco and papayas. Other crops cultivated include olives and avocados .
Zona Central Zona Central is Chile's agricultural and cultural heartland. With its mediterranean climate, Zona Central hosts the largest part of the country's wine regions. Most of Chile's premium wine regions depend on irrigation to sustain vineyards, the necessary water formed by melting snow caps in the Andes. In the developing wine regions along the Coastal Ranges and in the far south, there is not a lack of needed rainfall but vineyards owners have to deal with other factors, such as the Humboldt Current from the Pacific which can bathe a vineyard with a blanket of cool air. For the rest of Chile's wine regions, the Coastal Ranges serve as a buffer from the current and also act as a rain shadow. The vineyards in these regions are planted on the valley plains of the Andes foothills along the major rivers such as the Maipo, Rapel and Maule Rivers.T. Stevenson "The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia" pg 543-546 Dorling Kindersley 2005
Zona Sur Wheat cultivation, cattle farming, silviculture and salmon aquaculture are the main agricultural activities of Zona Sur. In northern Zona Sur Araucania Region was known until recently as "Chile’s granary". Wheat in Araucanía continues to be the main crop; however, production of oats and lupine has increased significantly. While the area devoted to traditional crops and natural pasture has tended to shrink in Araucanía, there has been an increase in artificial and improved pasturelands. This supports a substantial mass of livestock, including beef cattle, swine, sheep, and horses, and abundant production of milk and by-products. Salmon aquaculture is Los Lagos Region largest source of jobs and main export industry. Nearly all of Chile's, and much of the southern hemisphere, blueberry and cranberry production is concentrated in Zona Sur.
Cultivation and production of hazelnuts in Chile is centred in the south-central regions from Maule to Los Lagos. Production increased greatly in the 2010s. In 2016 Chile exported about 6,500 tons of hazelnuts. Chilean hazelnuts are described by Reuters as an alternative to Turkish hazelnuts that dominate the international market.
Zona Austral
In Zona Austral, sheepherding has been a major industry since the 19th century. In the Magallanes Region alone, there is an estimate of 1.5 and 2 million sheep that is distributed among 300 farmers as of 2006.Mercopress - Sheep farming innovation in Magallanes Region 2008-02-28 Exotic species, like reindeer, have been introduced in recent years. Agriculture in the north-western parts of Zona Austral (Aisén, Chiloé and Palena) focuses on aquaculture and silviculture and is similar to that of Zona Sur.
Evidence ranging from historical records, local agriculturalists, and DNA analyses strongly supports the hypothesis that the most widely cultivated variety of potato worldwide, Solanum tuberosum tuberosum, is indigenous to Chiloé Island and has been cultivated by the local indigenous people since before the coming of the Spanish.Molecular description and similarity relationships among native germplasm potatoes (Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum L.) using morphological data and AFLP markers, Jaime Solano Solis et al., Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, July 2007
History
Pre-Hispanic agriculture
At the time of the arrival of the first Spaniards to Chile the largest indigenous population concentration was in the area spanning from Itata River to Chiloé Archipelago.Otero 2006, p. 36. In this area indigenous groups practised glade agriculture among the forests.Otero 2006, pp. 21–22. The forests provided firewood, fibre and allowed the production of planks. Agriculture type varied; while some Mapuches and Huilliches practised a slash-and-burn type of agriculture some more labour-intensive agriculture is known to have been developed by Mapuches around Budi Lake (raised fields) and the Lumaco and Purén valleys (canalized fields).Dillehay, Tom D.; Pino Quivira, Mario; Bonzani, Renée; Silva, Claudia; Wallner, Johannes; Le Quesne, Carlos (2007) Cultivated wetlands and emerging complexity in south-central Chile and long distance effects of climate change. Antiquity 81 (2007): 949–960 Pre-Hispanic agriculture extended as far south as the Guaitecas Archipelago (44° S), were indigenous Chonos cultivated Chiloé potatoes. Tools are known to have been relatively simple. In addition the Mapuche and Huilliche economy was complemented with chilihueque raising, fishing, collection of shellfish and algae.Villalobos et al. 1974, p. 50.
Colonial agriculture As the Spanish settled in Chile in the 16th century many cities were founded and indean labour partitioned among Spanish conquistadores.Villalobos et al. 1974, pp. 109–113. Beyond subsistence the 16th century economy of Chile was oriented towards large-scale production. Spanish colonizers used large amounts of indigenous labour following the slave labour system used in the sugar cane plantations of the Mediterranean islands and Macaronesia. This system of labour successively killed the production base leading to the imposition of the encomienda system by the Spanish Crown in order to prevent excesses. In Chile Spanish settlers managed to continue to exploit indigenous labour under slave like conditions despite the implementation of the encomienda. Rich Spanish settlers had over time to face opposition to their mode of production by Jesuits, Spanish officials and indigenous Mapuches.Salazar 1985, pp. 23–25.
The initial Spanish settlers of Chiloé Archipelago (conquered in 1567) attempted to base their economy on gold extraction and a "hispanic-mediterranean" agricultural model. This activity ended in a general failure given the unsuitable conditions of the archipelago.Torrejón, Fernando; Cisternas, Marco; Alvial, Ingrid and Torres, Laura. 2011. Consecuencias de la tala maderera colonial en los bosques de alece de Chiloé, sur de Chile (Siglos XVI-XIX)*. Magallania. Vol. 39(2):75–95. Spaniards however reoriented their activities into logging Fitzroya.
The collapse of the Spanish cities in the south following the battle of Curalaba (1598) meant for the Spaniards the loss of both the main gold districts and the largest indigenous labour sources.Salazar & Pinto 2002, p. 15. After those dramatic years the colony of Chile became concentrated in the central valley which became increasingly populated, explored and economically exploited. Following a tendency common in the whole Spanish America haciendas were formed as the economy moved away from mining and into agriculture and husbandry.Villalobos et al. 1974, pp. 160–165.
In the 17th century economy of the Viceroyalty of Peru, Chile's husbandry and agriculture based economy had a peripheral role, contrasting to ore-rich districts like Potosí and the wealthy city of Lima. Husbandry products made up the bulk of Chilean exports to the rest of the viceroyalty. These products included suet, charqui and leather. This trade made Chilean historian Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna label the 17th century the century of suet (Spanish: Siglo del sebo). Villalobos, Sergio; Retamal Ávila, Julio and Serrano, Sol. 2000. Historia del pueblo Chileno. Vol 4. p. 154. Other products exported included dry fruits, mules, wines and minor amounts of copper. Trade with Peru was controlled by merchants from Lima that enjoyed protection by the Spanish authorities in Lima. In addition to the exports to coastal Peru Chile also exported products inland to Upper Peru through the port of Arica. Trade inside Chile was small since cities were tiny and self-sufficient.
In the 1650–1800 period the Chilean lower classes grew considerably in size.Salazar 1985, p. 49. To deal with the poor and landless population a policy of founding citiesThese cities were often in fact more of villages or towns due to their size. and granting lands in their surroundings was implemented. From 1730 to 1820 a large number of farmers settled in the outskirts of old cities or formed new cities.Salazar 1985, p. 58. Settling as a farmer in the outskirts of old cities (La Serena, Valparaíso, Santiago and Concepción) was overall more popular than joining a new city since it secured a larger consumer market for agricultural products.Salazar 1985, p. 52. Chilean haciendas (latifundia) engaged little in the supply of Chilean cities but focused on international exports for revenues.Salazar 1985, p. 88.