The Chilean ministry of agriculture and INDAP will allocate close to $1,500 million pesos, in the first instance, to ensure fodder and food for animals in the regions declared in emergency. Meanwhile, the Biobío region began the delivery process in the commune of Santa Juana. To date, 291,574.24 hectares have been consumed by fire.
'We are starting to deliver aid to farmers who are having a hard time in this emergency.' With these words, the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, began the process of delivering aid to the regions affected by the forest fires. 'With an immediate focus, as requested by the President of the Republic Gabriel Boric, INDAP and the SEREMI -through the Undersecretary of Agriculture- begin to count the distribution of $1.5 billion in aid to the 3 most affected regions –Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía-in addition to partially Maule and Los Ríos. The aid consists of bales with animal feed that allows for 15 days to feed a heifer and its calf or its equivalent in five smaller animals such as lambs and goats or 100 chickens, depending on the reality of each producer," says Minister Valenzuela.
In detail, about 26,000 bundles will be allocated to the Ñuble region; 40,000 for the Biobío region and 40,000 for the La Araucanía region, both for INDAP user farmers and non-INDAP user farmers. Additionally, it is planned to distribute 14,000 bundles in the Maule region and 10,000 in the Los Ríos region.
'This contribution will help more than 10,000 animals, and if they are chickens it will multiply much more, and it will continue to grow progressively; it is a shock aid, which is very important for small farmers,' Minister Valenzuela says.
Delivery in Biobío
In parallel, in the Biobío region, the delivery of multispecies concentrate began to support affected farmers in Santa Juana. This consists of 30,000 kilos of food, which was distributed by the Minister of Public Works, Juan Carlos García, and the national director of the Institute for Agricultural Development (INDAP), Santiago Rojas.
As Minister García explains, 'this fire affected places where the rural population is very important and what we are doing is not only making it visible, but we are acting quickly to protect something as valuable as their animals. We made a commitment to the mayoress of Santa Juana that we were going to leave here, due to the magnitude of this emergency and here we are in great coordination with INDAP and the Ministry of Agriculture so that as a Government we arrive in a timely manner.'
Along these lines, the director of INDAP explains that 'we have provided more than $1.200 million to support this emergency as a first measure for, in this case, animal feeding (…) These peasant families cannot wait; This is their sustenance, their way of life, their chickens produce their eggs for their own food, and what we do today is support 120 peasant families here (Santa Juana). Subsequently, we go to Nacimiento, and 10 bags of animal feed with 25 kg each will be delivered, which allows a feeding of 7 to 14 days depending on the livestock mass. This is just a first step.'
For her part, the mayoress of Santa Juana, Ana Albornoz, thanked the help and emphasised that 'the President has listened to us. He is doing miracles, something that has never been seen in this country, because good things must be said. It is the fifth or sixth day since the emergency began and we are already arriving with help for the animals, which are the most important thing left to the peasants'.
Sanitary measures
During the day, Minister Valenzuela, together with the Undersecretary of Public Health, Cristóbal Cuadrado; the presidential delegate, Gabriel Pradenas, and the national director (s) of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), Andrea Collao, delivered a series of measures to care for the animals affected by the fires, this within the framework of the Management Board of Animal Dimension Disasters. This instance aims to ensure animal safety considering the complexities of the current emergency situation, addressing aspects such as food, veterinary and health medical treatments and hospital care for animals, among others.
It is that as explained by Undersecretary Cuadrado, regarding animal welfare, an articulated action has been arranged together with the SAG to be able to respond to the need for human and animal health. 'All of our shelters are seeking coordination to be able to provide an answer to those people who transport or have been evacuated with their animals and give them peace of mind that their animals will also have an answer and for that we are working with the SAG, and the Veterinary Medical College, among other actors. Additionally, reiterate that when we have an animal that has died, that animal must be buried avoiding transfers and handling, they must be buried away from water sources, at least one meter deep," says the authority.
For her part, the national director(s) of the SAG, emphasised that 'what we mainly seek is to emphasise animal welfare and the rescue of wildlife, given that wildlife has a fundamental role in reforestation because each animal, pudu, monito del monte, will contribute to the fertilisation of the soil and the dispersal of seeds; Therefore, we have to be clear that each animal is an ecosystem,' Ms Collao points out.
Finally, the presidential delegate, Gabriel Pradenas, revealed that 'as a presidential delegation, community and region we feel very accompanied by the central government and the territorial and institutional articulation that has been deployed throughout the region (…) We have deployed a series of devices that respond to both farm animals and those of small farmers, livestock and responsible pet ownership, that is all the deployment of the Ministries of Agriculture and Health in the Ñuble Region.'
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| Image credit: Alastair Campbell on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) |
In detail, about 26,000 bundles will be allocated to the Ñuble region; 40,000 for the Biobío region and 40,000 for the La Araucanía region, both for INDAP user farmers and non-INDAP user farmers. Additionally, it is planned to distribute 14,000 bundles in the Maule region and 10,000 in the Los Ríos region.
'This contribution will help more than 10,000 animals, and if they are chickens it will multiply much more, and it will continue to grow progressively; it is a shock aid, which is very important for small farmers,' Minister Valenzuela says.
Delivery in Biobío
In parallel, in the Biobío region, the delivery of multispecies concentrate began to support affected farmers in Santa Juana. This consists of 30,000 kilos of food, which was distributed by the Minister of Public Works, Juan Carlos García, and the national director of the Institute for Agricultural Development (INDAP), Santiago Rojas.
As Minister García explains, 'this fire affected places where the rural population is very important and what we are doing is not only making it visible, but we are acting quickly to protect something as valuable as their animals. We made a commitment to the mayoress of Santa Juana that we were going to leave here, due to the magnitude of this emergency and here we are in great coordination with INDAP and the Ministry of Agriculture so that as a Government we arrive in a timely manner.'
Along these lines, the director of INDAP explains that 'we have provided more than $1.200 million to support this emergency as a first measure for, in this case, animal feeding (…) These peasant families cannot wait; This is their sustenance, their way of life, their chickens produce their eggs for their own food, and what we do today is support 120 peasant families here (Santa Juana). Subsequently, we go to Nacimiento, and 10 bags of animal feed with 25 kg each will be delivered, which allows a feeding of 7 to 14 days depending on the livestock mass. This is just a first step.'
For her part, the mayoress of Santa Juana, Ana Albornoz, thanked the help and emphasised that 'the President has listened to us. He is doing miracles, something that has never been seen in this country, because good things must be said. It is the fifth or sixth day since the emergency began and we are already arriving with help for the animals, which are the most important thing left to the peasants'.
Sanitary measures
During the day, Minister Valenzuela, together with the Undersecretary of Public Health, Cristóbal Cuadrado; the presidential delegate, Gabriel Pradenas, and the national director (s) of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), Andrea Collao, delivered a series of measures to care for the animals affected by the fires, this within the framework of the Management Board of Animal Dimension Disasters. This instance aims to ensure animal safety considering the complexities of the current emergency situation, addressing aspects such as food, veterinary and health medical treatments and hospital care for animals, among others.
It is that as explained by Undersecretary Cuadrado, regarding animal welfare, an articulated action has been arranged together with the SAG to be able to respond to the need for human and animal health. 'All of our shelters are seeking coordination to be able to provide an answer to those people who transport or have been evacuated with their animals and give them peace of mind that their animals will also have an answer and for that we are working with the SAG, and the Veterinary Medical College, among other actors. Additionally, reiterate that when we have an animal that has died, that animal must be buried avoiding transfers and handling, they must be buried away from water sources, at least one meter deep," says the authority.
For her part, the national director(s) of the SAG, emphasised that 'what we mainly seek is to emphasise animal welfare and the rescue of wildlife, given that wildlife has a fundamental role in reforestation because each animal, pudu, monito del monte, will contribute to the fertilisation of the soil and the dispersal of seeds; Therefore, we have to be clear that each animal is an ecosystem,' Ms Collao points out.
Finally, the presidential delegate, Gabriel Pradenas, revealed that 'as a presidential delegation, community and region we feel very accompanied by the central government and the territorial and institutional articulation that has been deployed throughout the region (…) We have deployed a series of devices that respond to both farm animals and those of small farmers, livestock and responsible pet ownership, that is all the deployment of the Ministries of Agriculture and Health in the Ñuble Region.'
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
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