Converting an avocado plantation in Chile

A PT-300 works on steep hills, preserving the quality of the soil

Agrícola El Maitén is a small farm located in Quillota, Chile. During the low season, there are only about 10 employees but as many as 300 during the high season.

Some time ago, the company contacted Biofor to help manage a new project: converting a nearby avocado plantation. Biofor is a company that provides agricultural and forestry services in central and southern Chile. To do this work, the company uses FAE equipment, which it purchases from Raico, a company that has been selling earthmoving and forestry machinery, parts and accessories since 1969. Raico has several fully-equipped workshops through which it offers after-sales service across Chile.

“Our customer Biofor needed to eliminate an avocado crop planted 17 years ago, as requested by Agrícola El Maitén,” Raico engineer Nicolás Alexandroff told us. “There was a 321,800-square-meter parcel that needed to be taken care of, with some flat areas and some hilly parts.”

“Biofor brought a new PT-300 equipped with a forestry mulcher to the site, knowing that it was the perfect machine for the job,” Nicolás asserted. “And Biofor’s choice was correct. The PT-300 worked 32.18 hectares of land in 167 hours, at an average of 5.19 hours/hectare. We already knew we could rely on this machine, but we were especially amazed in this case because not only was it able to work so quickly, but also on slopes well over 30°. The avocado trees were shredded without a problem and in all working conditions,” stated Pablo Raab, commercial director at Biofor.

It's difficult to determine who is saying what in this section. Does Pablo's quote begin at "And Biofor's…"? The "And" makes it sound like a continuation of Nicolas's quote.

The end customer was also pleased with the results. “If they had used an excavator, the same job would have taken 25-30 hours per hectare. With the PT-300, it only took 5,” confirmed Pablo. “The advantage in terms of cost savings is clear, but the big advantage of this machine is that it can improve the quality of the soil. It leaves the mulched material on the ground, which then turns into a natural fertilizer that can significantly facilitate the development of a new crop, as we noticed after other jobs done with a PT-300.”