With the participation of the governorates of Nariño, Cauca, Cundinamarca and Boyacá, the National Government concluded the second National Potato Table, in which there was a set of measures aimed at mitigating the effects of the seasonal price drop faced by the sector.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Martha Carvajalino, announced that it is a situation that “puts at risk the entry of many small producers” and which affects about 90,000 families that today depend on the cultivation of this tuber.
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Among the actions announced is a financing scheme with a subsidized rate, an economic reactivation line, standardization of portfolio and incentive to rural capitalization. As reported by Carvajalino, These measures will be backed by Finagro and the Agrarian Bank, with resources greater than $ 3,000 million.
Another strategies is the direct acquisition of seasonal surpluses, a mechanism that has already been used with products such as milk. This time, The Government will allocate about $ 20,000 million for direct potato purchasewith the aim of redirecting these products towards regions of the country where high levels of food insecurity have been identified.
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More than 90,000 potato producing families are at risk due to the seasonal price drop, according to the Minister of Agriculture, Martha Carvajalino.
Courtesy
Carvajalino also reported that the plan includes coordinated actions with the transformative industry and with wholesale supply plants, that will be addressed in meetings scheduled for the coming weeks.
“We have presented measures with the industry, a table that we will hold in the course of the week“He explained. Abasto plants announced that on August 15 a specific meeting will be held to coordinate efforts with these market actors.
As part of the institutional monitoring, The Expanded National Council of the Pope will be summoned, in order to maintain permanent monitoring about the evolution of the measures adopted. The Public Ministry also signed the action plan as guarantor, together with the national government and the territorial entities involved.
(Read more: Boyacá’s potato producers gather with minegriciculture: Will there be unemployment?)
A subsidized financing and reactivation line for more than $ 3,000 million with Finagro support and the Agrarian Bank was activated.
Courtesy
The minister called to citizens to support national production. “Today we also want to tell the country that we owe, in an act of solidarity with all the potato producers and producers of Colombia, embrace them and consume national pope”He said.
The set of initiatives is part of a context of excess supply that has generated a significant decrease in potato prices in different areas of the country, a situation that mainly affects small and medium producers in departments such as Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Nariño, Cauca, Santander and Norte de Santander.
The government insists that these measures seek not only to respond immediately to the situation, but also to move towards income stabilization for producers, as well as ensuring food supply in territories with greater food vulnerability.
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Diana K. Rodríguez T.
Portfolio journalist
