The program “Research Rings in Specific Thematic Areas 2025” from the Agency for Research and Development (ANID) has awarded funding for the formation of scientific and/or technological research groups that, with a multidisciplinary approach, will address local challenges over a three-year horizon in four thematic lines: democracy and global change, agriculture under water scarcity, Antarctic science, and artificial/quantum intelligence. One of the selected projects will be led by the Associate Professor of the Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Sebastián Vicuña, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Playa Ancha and the University of Chile.
Fruit Production in a Semi Arid Climate: Sustainable Adaptation Pathways (Fruit SAP)
The megadrought phenomenon experienced in central Chile forces a rethinking of the fruit export model (avocados, grapes, citrus) that consumes more than 70% of the fresh water in the territory. The project “Fruit Production in a Semi Arid Climate: Sustainable Adaptation Pathways (Fruit SAP)” will launch a collaboration between engineers, agronomists, social scientists, and farmers to contribute to the design of “sustainable adaptation pathways” that combine:
– Technology: precision irrigation, sensors, and agroecological practices that reduce the water and carbon footprint by up to 30% on real farms.
– Basin models: simulations that integrate snow, soil, crops, and human decisions to anticipate scenarios for 2050 and design robust policies in the face of climate uncertainty.
– Social innovation: behavioral experiments, participatory workshops, and new incentives for small and large producers to share water, data, and risks.
The project will focus on the Aconcagua (glacier-fed) and Petorca (rain-fed) basins, turning the threat of drought into an opportunity to export not only fruit, but also knowledge about sustainable agriculture in arid zones across the planet.
