Minister of Agriculture Luis Ramon Rodriguez says more than 10,000 tons of black beans to be produced in 2013 will be exported to Venezuela as part of the Petrocaribe agreement.
Speaking on the Revista 110 TV program, produced by Julio Hazim for Telecentro, Channel 13, Rodriguez said that President Danilo Medina wants the country to comply with the part of the Petrocaribe agreement that states the country can make payments to its oil debt in farm products instead of cash.
To make the most of the agreement, the Ministry of Agriculture had imported 1200 quintals of black bean seeds from the United States in 2012, as there were not enough in the local market. Subsequently 10,000 tareas (1 tarea = 629 sq. meters) were planted in the valleys of San Juan de la Maguana in order to produce 20,000 quintals of seeds to be used in the following year to plant the 100,000 tareas needed to grow the 10,000 tons of beans needed to make the payments to Venezuela.
Rodriguez says that the country can become an excellent exporter of black beans due to the local climate and agricultural conditions.
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2013/01/02/i366046_exportara-mil-toneladas-habichuela-negra-hacia-venezuela-segun-agricultura.html