Bonao. With the last harvest of the year, the government succeeded, through the Ministry of Agriculture, for the country to achieve self-sufficiency in rice cultivation after exceeding 13 million quintals. This determines that it will not be necessary to import the cereal, informed the minister of the entity Limber Cruz.
The economic and technological support to the rice sector, arranged by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, allowed the yield of the harvest to be increased by 20%, thereby guaranteeing supply and price stability.
The Minister of Agriculture pointed out that the success of the cereal harvest was due to the development of varieties that can produce more with less investment. Among them is the Juma 69-20, which constituted 60% of the national production and achieved a yield of 20%.
“From the Bio-Rice laboratory, we are doing trials with another variety, the Juma 70-22, with which we will be able to say goodbye to imports. We have a supply of more than 13 million quintals and thanks to this overproduction we do not have to import a single grain of rice, “said Cruz.
Along with President Abinader, Minister Cruz led a lunch with authorities from the agricultural sector of the Monseñor Nouel province, coffee, cocoa and cattle producers. There the actions carried out in favor of the country’s food security were presented.
The Minister of Agriculture said that the government allocated more than 558 million euros at a zero and preferential rate through the Agricultural Bank to promote agriculture in the area.
Regarding free land preparation for the cultivation of items such as hybrid corn, pigeon peas, chili peppers, lettuce, aubergines, cucumbers, squash, bananas and beans, 70 thousand tasks were intervened for the benefit of a thousand farmers. Also, the entity repaired about 25 kilometers out of a total 200 of local roads, and worked on the expansion of seven kilometers of irrigation canals with the support of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI).
Likewise, some 2,800 quintals of fertilizers and 800 liters of fungicides were donated to 337 coffee producers, as well as 378 thousand seedlings were delivered. To promote cocoa cultivation, 190 thousand seedlings and 168 quintals of fertilizers were provided to 84 beneficiary farmers.
Present at the activity were the administrator of Banco Agrícola, Fernando Durán; the director of the Inespre, Iván Hernández, and Francisco Guillermo García, of the IAD. Also, Olmedo Caba, director of INDRHI, and Efraín Toribio of FEDA, as well as representatives of the productive sector and provincial authorities.
