what's the deal with danilo and his ongoing support for agriculture business?

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dv8

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before election we'd say that hipolito was the one who'd give more attention to campos and farmers while danilo would focus on tourism and modern businesses.
so it is with a great surprise that i read about danilo's work towards dominican agriculture. this latest article takes about casabe production: Danilo autoriza ayuda a los productores de casabe - listindiario.com but i have seen numerous other texts over the last months about his ongoing support for food production.

now, do not get me wrong. i think this is the right direction. DR produces lots of great fruits and vegetables and locally made goods like cheese (yes, i know, some will b**ch about it) are also to die for. there is plenty of produce that is naturally grown, hand made, organic and super fresh. i am a bit of ingredients freak and i like to see short and simple labels.

but still, what has happened here? danilo is turning to be a different man we thought he was. he is focusing on things no one expected him to focus on.
 
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playacaribe2

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dv8 said:
before election we'd say that hipolito was the one who'd give more attention to campos and farmers while danilo would focus on tourism and modern businesses.
so it is with a great surprise that i read about danilo's work towards dominican agriculture. this latest article takes about casabe production: Danilo autoriza ayuda a los productores de casabe - listindiario.com but i have seen numerous other texts over the last months about his ongoing support for food production.

now, do not get me wrong. i think this is the right direction. DR produces lots of great fruits and vegetables and locally made goods like cheese (yes, i know, some will b**ch about it) are also to die for. there is plenty of produce that is naturally grown, hand made, organic and super fresh. i am a bit of ingredients freak and i like to see short and simple labels.

but still, what has happened here? danilo is turning to be a different man we thought he was. he is focusing on things no one expected him to focus on.
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dv8:

I don't think it is necessarily his support for agriculture as much as it is his support for exports. He has consistently focused on exporting more (for obtaining hard currency and trying to adjust balance of payments problems) and the agricultural sector of the DR is a natural fit toward that goal.

His background is one as an economist....and to that end he understands the need to try and balance the DR's global trade.



Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 
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dv8

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yes, true enough. i think that he is focusing on increasing the produce so that DR can export more products, and of higher quality. an article i linked also mentions export of casabe. i think his education and rational view on economy work well in his favour. i spoke of agriculture in another thread, arguing with dark scorpion that there is money in agriculture. people will always need food. and DR can fly on the organic foods trend...
 
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playacaribe2

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dv8 said:
and DR can fly on the organic foods trend...
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I would venture a guess that the DR is no longer using banned pesticides on its crops, and that also may be part of the reason why they are able to export more food..particularly to the far east.

It was not that long ago that DR was still using chemicals/pesticides that were banned from use in first world countries...and thus those countries banned imports of any food from the DR.

As to organic, I am not sure if the DR grows or exports anything in that category just yet.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 
B

bonao99

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"Contemporary ideas of organic production were introduced into the Dominican Republic in the early 1980s, but it was not until the mid 1990s that production expanded. Organic production is now an important component of the agricultural sector. In 1999 organic produce was estimated to contribute about 20 percent of total agricultural exports with a value of US$9.6 million. In 2000, the value of organic exports had doubled to US$20.9 million. The Dominican Republic is currently one of the leading exporters of tropical organic products globally. Much of the information on organic production is either documented in grey literature or is still undocumented. Organic production in the country is clearly dominated by bananas which account for about 80 percent of all organic exports. "

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC



In 2012, the country exported 96,235 tonnes of cacao, 165,000 of bananas, 4,107 of coffee, 3,432 of coconuts, 3,156 of mangoes, 2,180 of lemons, 563 of avocados, 1,200 of melons, 98 of ginger, 36 of macadamia nuts, 2,024 of yucca and 615 tonnes of vegetables.

Dominican Rep.: "Organic agriculture brings US$ 200 million into the economy"
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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playacaribe2 said:
As to organic, I am not sure if the DR grows or exports anything in that category just yet.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Click to expand...
I can speak of organic coffee. It's almost a joke.

Getting the "organic" certification means a paper trail was followed. Fact is most coffee growers use organic techniques because non-organic fertilizers and pesticides are just too expensive, and most farmers don't keep the records required for certification.

However, with coffee, the plants can be germinated and raised completely inorganically, and still be considered organic if certain procedures are followed for a certain amount of time. So many farmers grow coffee to get strong with inorganic pesticides and fertilizers, then go organic for a couple of years as the plants lose oomph, go inorganic for a year to boost them, and the cycle repeats itself.

I have also never seen purely organic coffee come even close to the quality, in both size and color, of coffee that doesn't have the "organic" certification...
 
D

dv8

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CB, part of the organic craze in just in the tag alone. anything that can be called organic for one reason or other will sell like gold.

i am pretty sure lots of dominican production is very clean and natural. my father in law has several fincas and i see how he deals with stuffs: animals are fed grass, seeds, grains or leftovers (depending on an animal). fruits and vegetable are grown using natural fertilizer. no antibiotics and artificial stuff in sight.

granted, this is fairly small farms and commercial production is different. but some companies here do not make anything, they just but stuff off individual small farmers and then export/sell.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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dv8 said:
CB, part of the organic craze in just in the tag alone. anything that can be called organic for one reason or other will sell like gold.

i am pretty sure lots of dominican production is very clean and natural. my father in law has several fincas and i see how he deals with stuffs: animals are fed grass, seeds, grains or leftovers (depending on an animal). fruits and vegetable are grown using natural fertilizer. no antibiotics and artificial stuff in sight.

granted, this is fairly small farms and commercial production is different. but some companies here do not make anything, they just but stuff off individual small farmers and then export/sell.
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Not arguing. I can only speak with authority on certified "organic" coffee. There is an international organization that certifies it.

People are under the impression that if something isn't "organic" it's somehow tainted with terrible chemicals. That just isn't so.
 
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Chirimoya

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With coffee, I understood the organic factor is more about the environmental impact on the area of cultivation than the qualities of the final product, isn't that the case?
 
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dv8

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not arguing either. just pointing out that all kinds of organic sell, regardless of the production process.

coffee.. i like monte real. tastes exactly the same as before, despite green organic sticker now. :)

occasionally we get fresh eggs for the farm: duck, geese, chicken, guinea. no comparison to the stuff sold in supermarkets.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Chirimoya said:
With coffee, I understood the organic factor is more about the environmental impact on the area of cultivation than the qualities of the final product, isn't that the case?
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That's part of it.
 
T

tflea

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One of Danilo's campaign slogans was "to do what's never been done".
Maybe he's actually trying to live up to that. Who knows.
As for organic, I'd say the DR has tons of naturally grown products,
sans chemicals, hormones, other mutating and/or harmful meddling, but just don't
adhere to the strict compliance of the organic label. It's easy to buy right off the old
beat up pickup trucks that come straight from some little garden somewhere, but you
do need to ask about how they grow because there is no regulation to speak of.
Or just grow your own, then you know what you're eating.
 
D

dv8

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i think that maybe if you are in a good relationship with the seller you can be sure his produce is fresh and good. we get some of our stuff from my in laws, some we buy on the side of the road or from small shacks.
in our last visit in the farm in maimon i got some milk, pumped out as we were having a coffee and waiting. you cannot get any better than that ;)

but you are right saying that not everything is what it seems. some of those guys in pickup trucks buy leftovers from the same supplier as supermarkets. whatever large shops will not take, seeing it as inferior quality, wrong size, whatnot...
 
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RonS

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There is a thriving market for DR agricultural goods in the US, organic and otherwise. The President is right to prioritize that sector of the DR economy.
 
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JohnnyBoy

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Most pesticides have a half life of twenty four hours. The pesticides used today are not DDT or agent orange type stuffs used in years past. It is feasible to have small farms certified organic the larger places ie the USA have to use genetically altered seed which takes away the organic certification. Grass fed beef takes three times longer to get to the butcher, and doesnt taste anywhere near as good as corn fed.
It is good that the DR is focusing on exporting more produce. If it is cost feasible for china to supply markets in the US with produce it would be better to give those monies to the DR.
 
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dv8

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i think danilo's initiative regarding agricultural production is a great thing. and he shows great interest in a variety of products...
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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JohnnyBoy said:
Most pesticides have a half life of twenty four hours. The pesticides used today are not DDT or agent orange type stuffs used in years past. It is feasible to have small farms certified organic the larger places ie the USA have to use genetically altered seed which takes away the organic certification. Grass fed beef takes three times longer to get to the butcher, and doesnt taste anywhere near as good as corn fed.
It is good that the DR is focusing on exporting more produce. If it is cost feasible for china to supply markets in the US with produce it would be better to give those monies to the DR.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you grew up on. I prefer grass fed beef.
 
F

flyinroom

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I found baby bok choy, from the Dominican Republic, on the shelf of my chain store grocer two weeks ago. (Montreal)
I love it when that happens.
 
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