Osmar Benítez is a “hands-on” Minister of Agriculture, and he was in the community of Chalona, in the province of San Juan de la Maguana to give evidence of this. The Ministry of Agriculture is setting up a series of small reservoirs to assist small farmers, and Benítez was there to inaugurate the first one. The RD$22 million dam has water to irrigate 15,000 tareas (approximately 1,000 hectares) of farmland. It is especially important for the planting of large variety of short-cycle foods, such as tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, beans, peanuts and corn.
There are a total of eight reservoirs planned for the program in the San Juan de la Maguana Valley. The reservoir system is financed with funds provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Program for the Reconversion of the San Juan Valley. Even better, the Ministry will also provide services of leveling and plowing for the newly irrigatable lands. This service was provided to over 140,000 tareas last year.
Benítez also told reporters that the Ministry had managed to rescue the Program for the Multiplication of Seeds that had been abandoned for 25 years, and thanks to the program, the most recent bean harvest in San Juan will be from seeds produced under the program. The program will continue, and provide the seeds for the next harvest as well.
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El Caribe
16 March 2020