The commemoration of the World Agriculture Day finds the Dominican Republic through what former Adriano Sánchez Roa described as “the deepest crisis in its history in the agricultural sector, marked by strong increases in food prices, excessive imports and bankruptcy of thousands of producers”.
The agricultural head of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) criticized that the authorities try to hide the fall in national production by including imports within official figures, thus creating a “false perception of agricultural success.”
Sánchez Roa recalled that, under the governments of the PLD and with the surprise visits of former president Danilo Medina, food self -sufficiency rose to 90.2%. However, currently that figure has declined to 72%, which forces to import 28% of the foods consumed by the population.
Read: Year -on -year inflation is 3.71 % in August; Chicken, bananas and transport prices rise
The former administrator of the Agricultural Bank described the date as a “World Black Agriculture Day”, because agri -food imports exceed exports by US $ 1,992 million annually, while consumers and producers are equally affected.
Likewise, he denounced the abandonment of the field, reflected in the existence of 612 areas without technicians or assistance, the preparation of just 30% of the required land, the extreme scarcity of seeds and planting materials, deficiencies in animal and plant health, and agricultural policies that it considered wrong or incapable.
Sánchez Roa argued that lack of production has caused a sustained increase in food prices. He cited as an example the increase of some products between 2020 and 2025:
- Chicken: from RD $ 44 to RD $ 110 La Libra.
- Rice: from RD $ 21.10 to RD $ 45.50.
- Habichuelas: from RD $ 50 to RD $ 90.10.
- Oil (128 oz): from RD $ 262 to RD $ 794.95.
- YUCA: from RD $ 9.50 to RD $ 19.95 La Libra.
As for exports, he indicated that the banana sector fell 44%, from US $ 363 million in 2020 to US $ 202.7 million in 2024. He added that, in the last five years, the country has had to import US $ 1,450 million in pork meat.
