US$38.3M agro program will benefit 18,000 west region farmers

San Juan de la Maguana,Dominican Republic.- President Danilo Medina on Thursday launchedthe Agricultural Transformation and Restructuring Program, which will benefit18,000 farmers in the region.

The Agriculture Ministry and producers will conduct the projectat a cost of US$38.3 million, with an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)loan together with Government matching funds.

Agriculture minister Angel Estevez said the projectinvolves GPS leveling of nearly 1,800 hectares in five years, many of which havebeen already prepared.

He said the initiative includes construction of two facilitiesto dry and store products in San Juan and Vallejuelo, where Medina headed groundbreakingyesterday.

Estevez said he also expects the Program will impact theentire country, since it’s conceived as a model to take it to other provinces.

He said the project will raise agro production in the area bymore than 60%. “Producers will have a high-tech mechanism at their disposal.”

Estevez said the program includes an allocation of US$19million for credits to introduce technologies.

He said it also includes repair and maintenance of 75kilometers of country roads, 15-kilometer spans of irrigation canals, 40 floodgatesreplaced and construction of 10 structures to measure irrigation with a secondaryand tertiary channel grid.