Chile declares state of agriculture emergency

Chile has declared a state of agriculture emergency in the regions of Valparaiso, O'Higgins, Maule, Bio Bio, La Araucania and Metropolitana, after the devastating earthquake.

Agriculture Minister Marigen Hornkohl said the government took the decision on Thursday (Mar 4) after having the first reports of the situations of the disaster regions.

The decision aimed to provide concrete aids to the peasants to minimise the impact of the earthquake and to facilitate the relief measures in the affected regions, Hornkohl said.

Among the aids, the government will issue emergency coupons worth a maximum CLP150,000 (US$295) to each peasant to help farmers restore agricultural production.

The peasants will also receive additional coupons to repair or rehabilitate their watering and drainage systems.

Once the authorities have more information about the damages, other emergency measures would be adopted to reconstruct the agricultural systems.