CORONA
Temperature control at the entrance of Sadaf mushroom farm.
Small separated canteens in the empty offices at Abrantes.
‘Let's hope it will not last too much longer’
demand for essential foodstuffs and detergents and hygiene products. Because mushrooms in Iran are considered ‘unnecessary’ foods, the demand for them has sharply decreased, by 50%. But it seems that buyers and producers are gradually accepting the new conditions, and we soon expect some rise in demand, followed by mushroom production. However, with the closure of the borders of neighboring countries, which are Iran's export market (UAE, Iraq, Kuwait), more pressure has been put on our mushroom business”, says Ali Irani. The Sadaf farms have implemented increased hygienic measures through daily disinfection of corridors, toilets, et cetera. “We also control people's health when entering the farm, we hold online briefings for personnel, we made general decisi- ons to increase work efficiency and reduce pro- duction costs, we made public advertising about the nutritional value of mushrooms and the way they increase the immune system. Furthermore, we make efforts to resume exports.”
Iran - Dezful Mushrooms, 13 April Dezful is one of Iran's largest compost and mushroom producers. The company was the first in Iran to produce phase III compost in a modern way, using bunkers and tunnels, and its farm is equipped with automated climate control sup- plied by Dalsem/DMP and Hoving. Dezful has implemented measures such as wearing face masks and maintaining a distance of 1.5 metres between pickers and other staff in the growing and packing areas. This means longer working days for all the staff. Until now, coronavirus has not influenced the sales prices of mushrooms in the southern province of Khuzestan, where Dezful is located. Prices do seem to be falling around the more northerly major cities of Tehran and Mashad, as the local market is more dependent on restau- rants, especially fast food chains which have
10 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
been closed. However, all signs point to these businesses - usually smaller ones - being able to open again soon. Overall production in Iran has fallen due to lower pay-out prices. Small, traditi- onal style farms are producing less or have temporarily stopped altogether, also due to difficulties in finding labour during the pandemic.
Chile - Benjamin Suarez, Abrantes - 3 April
The first Corona patient in Chile was reported on March 3rd and the country went in lockdown according to Benjamin Suarez. ”You can buy non-food only online. The advice is for people to stay at home and only go outside for work.” 368 deaths have been reported by 15 May. The Abran- tes company has a mushroom farm, compost yard and packing. Abrantes learned from Italy and Spain, and took immediately action before government implemented rules. “The culture in Chile is very familiar, greetings by kissing and such. Already on March 6th, Abrantes gave all coworkers a Corona course and implemented social distancing. In the farm, in front of every room there are alcohol hand gels available, and the doors stay open, so that people don’t need to touch. There are also lesser pickers in the rooms and in the packing department and they work in two shifts, day and night. The breaks are separa- ted, the office rooms are converted in canteens for small groups and after every shift of a group, the tables are disinfected. Three extra people have been hired, only for cleaning and disinfec- tion! Staff and administration work from home. Only Abrantes workers can enter the company and workers older than 60 can stay at home. Abrantes pays their full salary. To transport pic- kers to the farm twice the amount of busses are rented, to be able to respect social distancing
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