Launching UC Davis Chile's Extension and Innovation Program

Last Friday, May 7, the UC Davis Chile Extension and Innovation Program was launched. In the activity, held via streaming, María Emilia Undurraga, Minister of Agriculture; Mauricio Cañoles, General Manager of UC Davis Chile; Tomás Labbé, fruit tree advisor, and Raimundo Arnaiz, walnut producer and General Manager of Agrícola Vista Volcán participated as panelists. During the event, the guests had the opportunity to discuss the importance of extension, the opportunities it might represent, and how it could make a difference for our country and its agriculture.

"We must erase this individualism, share and work together, which requires the willingness of the public, private and academic sectors. We have learned that if we want to achieve and face these challenges in a better way, there must be collaboration," said María Emilia Undurraga, Minister of Agriculture.

In line with the outreach work that the UC Davis Chile team has been carrying out for the last three years, some members of the collaboration network of the Extension and Innovation Program also participated in the launch. The first one was Mark Bell, Vice Provost, Strategic Initiatives & Statewide Programs at UC ANR (UC Cooperative Extension); followed by members of the academia and research that presented their experience; to close with a series of testimonies from producers.

The Program

The UC Davis Chile Extension and Innovation Program is based on the experience of the UC Cooperative Extension, but adapted to the national reality. It seeks to articulate, coordinate, and integrate the strategic actors of the industry: producers, advisors, researchers, exporters, and trade organizations, among others, to solve the problems that affect the productivity and competitiveness of the industry. 

"We got tired of sitting down and saying that we had to collaborate and we took the first step by calling people to start working together. We asked them "are you willing to make public what you have?", thanks to this we have had the support of different institutions and companies that believed in us, that joined and trusted in the extension. They understood that with more technological knowledge, they could have greater development", said Mauricio Cañoles, General Manager of UC Davis Chile.

During the year 2021, the Extension and Innovation Program will focus on four main topics, cherry, walnut, European plum, and viticulture. Focusing the work on critical points for their sustainability, such as climate change, maximization of water productivity, integrated pest management and loss and waste management, among others. For this, the UC Davis Chile's innovation and extension team has been working since January with producers, advisors, academics, and researchers of these industries, identifying problems that have the greatest impact on the productivity of orchards and fruit quality.

Material, information and documents developed within the framework of this Program will be available on UC Davis Chile outreach platform www.plataformaextension.cl.