The Banco Agricola has authorized loans to the tobacco farmers amounting to RD$9.2 million this year. According to the newspaper Listin Diario, 12,112 Dominican tareas will now be planted. (1 tarea = 625 square meters). The announcement was made by Mr. Adriano Sanchez Roa, General Manager of the bank while inspecting tobacco plantations in Villa Gonzalez. Mr. Roa said that “tobacco growing provides 60 percent of the employment in the area.”