The business has a native forest reserve in the southern Chiloé Island called Reserva Martin Pescador, located on the shore of Lake Huillinco, in the Chonchi municipality.
It possesses a surface of 171 hectares which were once an exploited forest but today is covered by thick forest of young trees with a few centuries-old trees, such as the Tepa, related to the Olivillo and coigüe, the Luma, the Pitra and the Arrayán, the Alerce and the Guaitecas Cypress (Pilgerodendron).
Furthermore, native birds abound, such as the Magellanic Woodpecker, the Chucao, and the Black-throated Huet-huet, among others. One can also observe animals like Darwin’s fox, the monito del monte (colocolo opossum), Mole Mouse of Chiloé (ratón topo de Chiloé), Tree Rat of Chiloé, Southern Pudu, and the Southern River Otter. Its climate is characterized by the strong influence of the coast and lake with fronts arriving from the Pacific Ocean toward the lake with a more unstable climate. It rains about 300 centimeters (118 in) per year.
At Agrícola Huillinco our objective is to support the decarbonization of Chile’s electrical grid and minimize the impact our operations have on local communities.
Currently, our La Vega and Casas de Puangue farms have a combined photovoltaic generation capacity of 300 kWp, and our Puertas Coloradas and Ramadilla farms are in the process of developing and constructing local power generation capacity, which will add 435 kWp of additional generating capacity.
Our power plants are designed to produce 15% more than the consumption of our farms and offices. This generation will flow into the local grid, helping diminish dependence on external centers and transmission lines for the communities in which we are located.
In 2023, with all our power-generation systems operative, we estimate that the total generation will be 1,270 MWh, which is equivalent to reducing 532 tons of CO2 annually, or the equivalent of planting 24,190 adult trees.
It is our policy to reuse and recycle as much as possible in our projects. For example, when we developed the Ramadilla project, 54 tons of wire were recycled, and we rescued 100,000 stakes for the table grape plantation that had been abandoned in the same land, which were used as garden canes for each of the 87,000 citrus trees planted in 2022.
The walnut processing plant, which is under construction in 2022, is designed so that all its water be reused in the farm as a byproduct. Additionally, all walnut shells will be composted and used in our farms as fertilizer.
We are also developing recycling centers for our workers, and at our Casas de Puangue farm this area is already operating. We plan to replicate it in all our farms during 2022. We separate materials from origin and dispose of them at the available community recycling centers.
Each adult tree captures approximately 22 kg of CO2 per year.
All our farms maintain the highest standards of modern drip irrigation, which were designed by the hydraulic engineer Hernán Cox, always with the aim of the most efficient water use, meaning using the least energy possible to move exactly enough water to the trees.
Weather stations: We have 4 weather stations that are found in the farms Casas de Puangue; Puertas Coloradas; La Vega; Puertas Coloradas Las Peonías. All are in the municipality of Melipilla, and are the Watchdog brand from Spectrum Technology.
Humidity sensors: We have 25 humidity sensors from Lemsystem and they are distributed throughout three farms (Casas de Puangue, Puertas Coloradas, La Vega).
Automatic gate-houses: On our farms all the gate-houses are automatized. We have three gate-houses on the farms in Melipilla and two under construction in the municipality of Alto del Carmen.
Gravity-fed irrigation: We have 24.8 hectares that use gravity-fed irrigation, which are located in the Casas de Puangue farm.
Netting: Netting is being installed in the Ramadilla farm. This permits a reduction between 25 and 30% in the water required by the plants.
Canal lining: We have a geomembrane-lined canal of approximately 700 meters in the Casas de Puangue farm, and another canal is covered until reaching its end, which reduces infiltration and evaporation loss.
Water-retaining reservoirs: We have three water-retaining reservoirs–one in each farm in Melipilla (Casas de Puangue, Puertas Coloradas, La Vega), and three reservoirs and in the Ramadilla farm.
We currently have 83 workers in our farms, of which 76% are men and 24% are women. Furthermore 54% are neighbors of our farms. Our policy is to generate employment opportunities in local areas.
Inside our business, we promote respect for all types of diversity: cultural, sexual, ethnic and religious. We promote the upwards mobility of our workers by creating opportunities for internal promotion.
Another pilar is supporting the development of our personnel by supporting them with courses, co-financing for technical and higher education, with which we hope to maintain a team with a high level of performance.
| Participants | Course |
|---|---|
| 35 | Management and use of agricultural pesticides |
| 10 | Basic computer skills |
| 10 | Calibrating Equipment for fertilizer application |
| 6 | Course of fruit and nut management |
| 5 | Advanced irrigation management and operation techniques |
| 5 | FSMA Global Gap Certification Course |
| 3 | International Course on Irrigation |
| 2 | Post-graduate studies |
| 3 | Post-graduate Certification |
| 2 | Technical studies |
| 1 | Undergraduate studies |
| 2 | Master’s Degree |