Production
Brought by the Spanish conquerors, the tradition of fruit growing and processing in Chile has its origins in the colonial period. Since the 16th century, the Spanish managed to adapt European fruit trees to Chilean soils and climates, and began the production process. Walnuts had a decisive advantage over stone and pome fruits, as they did not have to face the conservation problems. Within this context, walnut cultivation played an important role in the local fruit growing history and contributed to the foundations for the modern Chilean fruit industry[1].
Jumping into the XX century, in spite of the “fruit boom” of the seventies in Chile, led by vine, apple and stone fruit trees, walnuts were still produced in small volumes, without much technology and were sold mainly to the neighbors Brazil and Argentina. In light of this scenario, the National Agricultural Research Institute, INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias) decided to lead the technological development of this crop in order for it to become profitable. Aiming to obtain homogeneous plant material, the first step was to implement clonal propagation through grafting of commercial varieties. INIA, with the support of the University of California, in 1984 established the first commercial nursery of grafted walnut trees.
At the same time, technical aspects such as: irrigation; plantation density; pruning; pest, weed and disease control; and, above all, meeting the quality standard of international demand, were finetuned, opening the door for the supply of high-quality walnut that currently Chile offers to the world[2].
Since the late 1970s, with around 4,000 hectares of seed walnut trees and a productivity of less than one metric ton per hectare, Chilean walnut production has grown to over 43,300 ha planted (Figure 1) with grafted trees. National average productivity is estimated at 4.5 MT/ha (weighted based on planted area per region), and with adult orchards yielding up to 8 to 11 MT/ha as stable production, which are among the highest yields in the industry. There are 2,775 reported orchards growing walnuts and weighted average tree density is at 267 trees/ha. Currently accounting for 13% of the national fruit planted area, walnut is the second most cultivated fruit in the country, after grapevine[2,3].
According to the latest ODEPA-CIREN census, the Metropolitan (Santiago) region accounts for 38% of the walnut planted area, followed by O’Higgins, Maule and Valparaíso with 16% each. The remaining 13% is distributed among Coquimbo (6%), Ñuble (3%), Biobío (3%) and Araucanía (1%). Non-significant hectarage in Atacama, Ríos and Lagos complete the total of 43,328 ha of walnut planted area in the country, including non-bearing (23%) and bearing (77%) hectarage (Figure 2). Regarding varieties, 78% of the overall growing area is planted with Chandler, followed by Serr with 19%. Howard, Cisco and other 23 different varieties account for the remaining 3%.
Over the last 10 years, total production has grown at an average annual rate of 14,000 metric tons (in-shell basis) and it is currently estimated at 135,000 MT (in-shell basis)/67,500 MT (kernel basis). A severe drought in the main walnut production area has affected the 2019/20 crop and is expected to slightly reduce the 2020/21 results as well. All in all, as per Chilenut expectations, 2020/21 crop is likely to hit the 150,000 MT threshold (Figure 3) and to reach between 225,000 250,000 MT by 2030.
Trade
Chile is currently the main walnut exporting origin after California and is the top supplier from the southern hemisphere. The counter-seasonal production allows Chile to provide fresh walnuts to the international market during the northern hemisphere off-season [4], and this fact is clearly reflected in this origin’s export progression.
As reported at the ODEPA international trade database, total exports in 2020 added up to 128,700 MT in-shell equivalent, up by 251% compared to 2011. Both in-shell (HS code 080231) and shelled (HS codes 08023210 and 08023290, wholes and halves respectively) overseas shipments have trended positively over the last decade. Shelled exports increased 3.3 times between 2011 and 2020 at an annual average rate of 1,900 MT/year. In-shell exported volumes grew 3.7 times over the same period at a rate of 7,300 MT/year (Figure 4).
Led by Germany, Italy and Spain, and accounting for 45% of the origin’s share, Europe is the main destination for Chilean walnuts (in-shell equivalent, 5-year average 2016-2020). Middle East and Africa add up to the following 32%, being Turkey, UAE and Morocco the top buyers (Figure 5).
Total in-shell shipments have grown by 89% over the previous five years. The Middle East/Africa and Asia/Oceania lead the demand, followed by Europe: While Turkey is an established market, exports to the UAE and Morocco increased over the last five years. India, Vietnam and China (mainland), the three top destinations in Asia, also showed a significant growth during the same period. The main in-shell buyers in Europe are Italy, Germany, Spain and Russia, which presented the biggest relative increment (Table 1).
Shipments of shelled walnuts doubled up between 2016 and 2020 and are mainly absorbed by Western Europe. Brazil is the biggest importer in America, while Ecuador seems to be an emerging destination (Table 1).
References
1. Frutos secos en Chile y Cuyo. Nogales, almendros y castaños (1700-1850). Aranda, M, Yuri, J.A., Castro San Carlos, A., Solar, M., Soto, N., Quinteros, K., Gaete, J., Rivas, J., Chávez; C. Lacoste, P.A. (coord.). HIB: revista de historia iberoamericana, Vol. 2, N.º. 2, 2009, pp. 38-51.
2. Los aportes del INIA en el desarrollo y auge del nogal chileno. Gamalier, L.S. (2018). Available at: https://biblioteca.inia.cl/handle/123456789/5440 (Retrieved: January 19, 2021).
3. ODEPA, Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies and CIREN, Natural Resources Information Center, Ministry of Agriculture of Chile.
4. Chilenut