The Congress of the Republic approved the draft law of agricultural inputs, proposed and led by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rodolfo Zea Navarro, with whom resources will be allocated to support small and medium producers, as well as promoting the use of fertilizers and compost that are friendly to the environment, among other issues.
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Minister Zea highlighted the approval of the project and recalled that the situation in the agricultural sector, due to the high cost of inputs, is a world problem that is being experienced by the blows of the covid-19 pandemic, causing the increase in prices of ‘commodities’.
Among the important issues of the project is the creation of the fund, which will be financed with 10% of the profits of the Banco Agrario de Colombia generated in 2021 and other sources of State entities, which will allow producers to access resources for $ 70,000 million, approximately in the first year.
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“We are including elements such as bio-inputs and biological controllers. These tools allow us to have a climate-smart agriculture to improve agricultural extension and train producers in the use of inputs.”Said the minister.
Another issue to highlight is the price observatory, which will allow producers to have information on the market for agricultural inputs. This will strengthen the monitoring of the prices of these products, work that will be carried out with the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce.
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“The project establishes that there will be a 0% tariff on imports of agro-inputs, because it generates lower costs”Added Minister Zea.
According to the figures, the market for agricultural inputs in Colombia moves around $ 4.94 billion per year. Of these resources, $ 2.37 billion are for the fertilizer segment; $ 1.54 billion, for pesticides; and $ 1.03 billion, for veterinary drugs and vaccines.
The project will now go to sanction of President Iván Duque and subsequently each of the established measures will be implemented.
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