He Department of agriculture and the Agricultural Bank announced this Tuesday the launch of the Pork Biosecurity Investment Fundan initiative that will provide financing to increase health controls in the farms pork and prevent diseases such as African swine fever (ASF), a virus that has become endemic in the country.
The fund is made up of loans of 5 million dollars granted through the Agricultural Bank and another $5 million in subsidized support from the U.S. Department of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), for a total of 10 million dollars (about 644 million pesos) with which loans will be granted to producers who request it and certify their farms as safe.
The Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, assured that increasing health controls is what will allow the national production.
“I have no doubt that when you are biosecure farms continue to increase, when we continue to protect the environment of all our main farms of production, we are going to have a pig farm for a long time,” he added.
The general director of Livestock, Abel Madera, maintained that the program seeks to contribute to changing the parenting culture of the pigsin an international context in which viruses and pests have posed challenges for the sustainability of production.
Certification and financing
At the event, certificates were awarded to six producers, whose farms They will be the first six beneficiaries of this program:
- César Taveras (Hacienda Taveras)
- Alfredo Rosario (Alfredo Rosario Farm)
- Albert Medina (Medina Farm)
- Claudia Soler (Dominican Tropicerdo)
- Alberto Medina (Alberto Medina Farm)
- Fernando Fernández (Ranchos Paparraya)
The general administrator of Agricultural Bank, Fernando Duranexplained that the funds will be delivered in equal parts, one borrowed ratio and another donated as part of the resources received by him USDA-APHIS.
“It is not only providing resources; is to provide them with an entire plan where all the activities that are going to be executed in the project. Based on that, a budget“he explained.
The Business Director of Bagrícola, Llisel Quezadaadded that the institution, together with the General Directorate of Livestock, has already identified around 100 projects who could benefit, of which there are already 28 whose applications are in the closing process.
Quezada explained that these resources They seek to modernize the production of farmsthrough:
- Installation of perimeter fences
- Delimitation of controlled access areas
- Wastewater and solids management
- Delimitation of quarantine areas
- Installation of cleaning and pressure systems
- Construction of facilities for sanitary management
