The president of the board of Small and Medium Poultry Enterprises, Simon Leal, proposed to the ministers of the economic and food production areas, Willmar Soteldo, Rodolfo Marco Torres, and Miguel Perez Abad, prioritizing investment in short-cycle crops, ensuring supplies to reactivate the installed and operational infrastructure, and having the necessary budget to reactivate the production of tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage, among other crops, as well as the production of chicken and eggs.
The short-cycle items to which the expert refers are the ones that can be produced in up to 120 days, ¨there are even some products that can be produced in 45 days, such as cilantro, parsley, leek, onion, and chicken," he said.
Leal stated that the proposals also aimed at joining efforts between the public and private sectors, which he and other associations, such as Fedeagro, Fedenaga and Pymi Porcina, among others, considered to be key so the productive sectors have a sustained progress.
"We must understand, now more than ever, that we will only advance if the public and the private sectors work together; if we think about our country as a producer and not an importer, if we encourage domestic production and create opportunities for activities that can generate foreign currency, such as tourism. In this sense, the Dominican Republic is an example worthy of imitation. A tourism supplied by domestic production," he said.
In his view, the announcements by the Minister of Agricultural Production and Lands, Wilmar Castro Soteldo, are on track. Thus, he said, if the heads of the Cabinet take into account the first proposals they have been given they'll be able to achieve the success that is so urgently required by the population and the country.
"This will allow us to have an offer of primary products and decrease the social pressure in the short term. The country has enough installed capacity to be self-sufficient in these areas. This would not only lower the existing social pressure but would also have an impact on consumer price indexes, which have risen in recent months due to a lack of availability of inputs required for production (seeds, agrochemicals, fertilizers, spare parts for agricultural machinery and implements, poultry genetics, commodities for the manufacture of animal feed, veterinary medicines, etc.)," he said.
Castro Soteldo announced the creation of two new distribution centers for Agropatria inputs in El Vigia (Merida) and Maracaibo; plus the promotion of a dry port and a special area in Portuguesa where producers will be able to transfer the inputs and technologies they require. The main challenge, he said, is curbing food imports.
According to Leal, this is an issue in which all sectors agree.
"We fully identify with this idea and are ready to actively collaborate on a plan to replace imports and to support applied research through the various universities in the country," he said.
Source: entornointeligente.com / With information from El Universal