{"id":246136,"date":"2026-01-07T07:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=246136"},"modified":"2026-01-07T09:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:42:13","slug":"farm-mechanization-leader-francisco-espaillat-named-new-minister-of-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/01\/07\/farm-mechanization-leader-francisco-espaillat-named-new-minister-of-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm mechanization leader Francisco Oliverio Espaillat named new Minister of Agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"386\" src=\"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Francisco-Oliverio-Espaillat-Bencosme-El-Nuevo-Diario.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-246209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Francisco-Oliverio-Espaillat-Bencosme-El-Nuevo-Diario.png 600w, https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Francisco-Oliverio-Espaillat-Bencosme-El-Nuevo-Diario-300x193.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption>Francisco Oiverio Espaillat Bencosme \/ El Nuevo Diario<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme has been named Minister of Agriculture. He is best known as a leading rice producer who has spearheaded surviving imported rice and labor problems by mechanizing most of his farms. He also offers the mechanization services to smaller farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An agronomy engineer and graduate of the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), Espaillat Bencosme brings over three decades of experience in the national rice sector. He was recognized by the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) as Agro-Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He replaces Limber Cruz who was not named to a new position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The appointment is part of the significant cabinet reshuffle made official in Decree No. 2-26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more in Spanish:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/hoy.com.do\/opinion\/oliverio-espaillat-bencosme-un-ejemplo-de-la-produccion-arrocera_893383.html\">Hoy <\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UNhExljcTWc\">Hoy Mismo <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/presidencia.gob.do\/noticias\/el-presidente-abinader-designa-nuevos-titulares-en-agricultura-mujer-la-dgii-y-gabinete\">Presidency<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7 January 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme has been named Minister of Agriculture. He is best known as a leading rice producer who has spearheaded surviving imported rice and labor problems by mechanizing most of his farms. He also offers the mechanization services to smaller farms. An agronomy engineer and graduate of the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica Madre y &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/01\/07\/farm-mechanization-leader-francisco-espaillat-named-new-minister-of-agriculture\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[340,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246136"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246211,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246136\/revisions\/246211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}