PRM presidential candidate Luis Abinader is pledging to launch seven government farm policies aimed at rescuing the country’s agricultural production and stop the inflationary spiral affecting food products. Speaking yesterday, Thursday 15 October 2015, he said that prices of 68 food products have experienced hikes ranging between 114 and 275% in the last three years.
The first measure identified by Abinader is the opening of new marketing channels and mechanisms for small-scale agricultural producers. He said he would promote and fund associations and rural production cooperatives so they could develop capacity to organize farmers, establish bill collection systems and negotiate with major clients.
As a second step, Abinader proposes the implementation of an effective National Irrigation Plan to promote the use of new and low-cost irrigation technology to benefit small-scale producers, incorporating corrective measures to handle the large amount of water that is now wasted.
The third measure proposed is to create a national plan for technological upgrading in key crops with high participation levels by small-scale producers to increase food supplies.
The fourth action to be taken is to provide small productive units access to quality land for farming, especially in the southern region.
The fifth initiative will aim to increase access to public programs that provide credit for small-scale agriculture while offering marketing and technological support. Medium-sized farms would also be granted access to these programs in order to back their export initiatives.
The sixth measure proposed by Abinader is to modernize and strengthen sanitary and phyto-sanitary controls for improved production and increases in farm exports. This would lead to an increase in production and lower prices on the local market.
As a seventh measure of support to the agricultural sector, Abinader is committed to promoting a national food security policy to tackle the hardships experienced by poor people who suffer from malnutrition, by ensuring availability, access and stability of food supply to each Dominican family.
Abinader anticipa 7 medidas para rescatar producción agropecuaria y reducir precio comida