Fruit farming accounts for 24.6% of the country’s agricultural production with 62,000 farms.
According to the National Farm Pre-Census 2015, fruit cultivation is one of the most competitive subsectors in national agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture celebrated National Fruit Day yesterday, Wednesday, 4 May 2016. Minister Angel Estevez said that the main fruits produced here are bananas, oranges, plantains, pineapple, coconuts, mangoes, melons, avocados, limes, cashew nuts, watermelons and papayas.
The minister pointed out that the DR has some 765,000 hectares of fruit farms, which is approximately 29% of the total farm production in the entire Caribbean and Central America region. He said some 400,000 people are employed on the farms.
The Minister said that while most bananas, mangoes, pineapples and papayas are exported, a large volume is consumed locally, especially by hotels and resorts.
Esteva encouraged an increase in consumption of fruits in the country because of the nutrients they contain, especially for children.
