In a milestone for Caribbean agriculture, Minister of Agriculture Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme announced that the Dominican Republic has secured its position as the leading rice producer in the Central American and Caribbean region. During an event in Bonao headed by President Luis Abinader to launch the annual harvest, Espaillat Bencosme revealed that domestic production now exceeds the combined output of all other nations in the region.
Rice is a leading Dominican food staple. Per capita consumption in the Dominican Republic stands at approximately 128 pounds per year.
The Minister underscored the country’s robust food security, noting that the national inventory currently holds over five million quintals of rice. This figure excludes the ongoing harvest, ensuring a steady supply for the domestic market despite global economic uncertainties.
According to data released by the Ministry, the Dominican Republic reached a historic production level of 14.78 million quintals in 2025, equivalent to more than one million metric tons of paddy rice.
The Minister concluded by noting that the country maintains two harvests per year across roughly 1.5 million tareas (the local land measure equal to 625 square meters), a cycle that continues to stabilize the internal market and fortify national sovereignty.
Key performance indicators
Rice remains a strategic pillar of the economy, accounting for between 13% and 15% of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (PIBA in Spanish). Approximately 1.4 million tareas (88,000 hectares) were planted by the close of March. So far this year, early harvest results show yields exceeding 5.44 quintals of white rice per tarea, a result attributed to increased mechanization and genetic innovation.
Push for further mechanization
Before his appointment in January 2026 as Minister of Agriculture, Espaillat Bencosme’s primary attention was dedicated to his business as a rice producer and vendor of mechanized farm equipment for rice production.
Under the 2026 harvest slogan, “Under a fully mechanized model and with a new genetic base,” Agriculture Minister Espaillat Bencosme emphasizes that the country now produces over 90% of the food it consumes.
“While in other countries there is money but nothing to buy, here the opposite is true: we have production, we have food, and we have the capacity to guarantee the food of our people,” Espaillat Bencosme stated, linking rice production directly to “social peace.”
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Presidency
20 April 2026