During a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Accompanying Measures for Bananas Program held at the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) yesterday, Tuesday, 3 May 2016, it was announced that the Dominican banana sector generates US$420 million a year and creates more than 32,000 jobs, 44% of which are permanent and 12% of which are for women.
During the meeting, authorities reported that more than 80% of the country’s banana production was organic and intended for export.
The main achievements of the Banana Support (BAM) program, which has a budget of RD$1 billion, more than RD$900 million of which was funded by the European Union were also presented in the meeting and it was revealed that the National Phyto-sanitary Committee awarded the Ministry of Agriculture a resolution that highlighted how the appropriate management conditions in local production have progressed and are now placing the country at the level of international standards for exportable bananas.
The Dominican Republic has around 270,000 hectares devoted to banana production.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Agriculture Angel Estevez, the Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, Bautista Rojas Gomez, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Temistocles Montas, the European Union Ambassador in the country, Alberto Navarro and JAD chief executive Osmar Benitez
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/157175/Dominican-Republic-More-than-80-procent-of-banana-is-organic-and-exported
