The Government prepares to send to the National Congress a $120 million loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the acquisition of new technologies that are revolutionizing agriculture in the world and in the Dominican Republic.
“We have a loan with the Inter-American Development Bank ready to send it to Congress for this, in relation to new technologies,” said the President of the Republic, Louis Abinader.
Abinader spoke at the head of the closing of the XXIII Meeting of National Leaders of the Agricultural Sectorio, organized by the Agribusiness Board Dominican Republic, where he said that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine puts risk the food security of the people.
“Now we find ourselves immersed in the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has shot up the prices of fertilizers and energy to exorbitant levels, essential inputs for agricultural production, and which are factors that make up a complex picture that puts risk the food security of our peoples”Republic President
He pointed out that when agriculture goes into crisis, its impact is felt, not only in people’s food and nutrition, but also contributes to increasing diseases, deepening poverty and accelerating migration. In other words, agriculture is an activity that profoundly determines the political and social stability of nations.
He pointed out that, to the old structural problems of agriculture and rurality, new, more complex and challenging ones are added today, such as global warming and climate change, “the economic limitations of many of our nations to invest in research and development technology, the scarcity and costs of productive inputs, low private financial investment in agriculture, the presence of pests and diseases that limit trade between countries.
In addition, the existence of more demanding societies in terms of the quality and safety of the food they consume, among many other elements that impact agricultural activity.
“In this complex scenario, in our country, we can see the progress of our agriculture, which is visible to all and its results fill us with pride,” he said.
He explained that the crises that have been experienced in recent times as a result of the pandemic and that are now intensifying with the Russia-Ukraine war, “He has left us the profound lesson that vigorous local production is the only reliable and timely way to guarantee the food security of our people.”
He pointed out that the countryside needs resources for its modernization, to improve the competitiveness of agriculture with more technical assistance and to expand the agricultural frontier, with more investments, especially in irrigation infrastructure and rural roads.
