FILE: Chile - June 24, 2023 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of flood water, trapped car, buildings

Chile - early November, 2023 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Cherries on branches
3. Workers picking up cherries
4. Various of workers sorting harvested cherries

Santiago, Chile - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Marambio, president, Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX):
"In the case of Chile, the effects of El Nino are mostly that we, starting in this winter, four to five months ago, we didn't have enough chill hours to grow our fruit. That is one problem. The other problem is that at the end of the winter we have had two big storms, so it is another problem to have all the rain that we need for the year in one or two events."

FILE: Chile - Nov 4, 2023 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of car moving in rain, windshield wipers working

Chile - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Workers picking up cherries in orchard
8. Various of workers carrying boxes of cherries

El Nino-induced extreme weather events are taking a heavy toll on Chile's cherry-growing industry, with the Latin American country reporting a sharp decline in output early in the harvest season.

Chile is the world's leading producer of cherries, but a report by the Chilean Federation of Fruit Producers (Fedefruta), a non-profit organization that represents over 28,000 fruit producers throughout the country, on Monday said the country's farmers have suffered a general decline of 50 percent in early cherry yields due to storms and disproportionate rainfall. In some areas, yield losses reached 60 to 80 percent.

According to the report, heavy rain pounded the central region of Chile multiple times from June to August -- the winter season for the Southern Hemisphere. Worse still, the region experienced the heaviest rainfall in 15 years between late October and the end of November, resulting in the recent decline.

"In the case of Chile, the effects of El Nino are mostly that we, starting in this winter, four to five months ago, we didn't have enough chill hours to grow our fruit. That is one problem. The other problem is that at the end of the winter we have had two big storms, so it is another problem to have all the rain that we need for the year in one or two events," said Ivan Marambio, president of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX).

Experts have also noted that extensive rainfall in October and November caused temperatures in the main cherry-producing areas of central Chile to drop well below the average of previous years, leaving many orchards with much smaller harvests. Among the hardest-hit varieties were Royal Dawn and Santina, both of which are relatively large and flavorful types.

As early cherry production plummets, Chile's cherry exports are projected to fall by 83 million boxes compared with the previous season.