Govt. to help agro recover with RD$500.0, materials

Santo Domingo.- Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged only 616 hectares of farmlands, says an agro sector survey, whose report was delivered to president Danilo Medina on Monday.

After a meeting with the president attended by the heads of agro sector government agencies, Agriculture minister Ángel Estévez said that only around a third of the hectares sustained significant damage.

He said the Government will support the sector, for which the Agricultural bank already has around RD$500.0 million, in addition to refinancing the debt to affected producers and extend the grace period to pay.

He said seeds, fertilizers and barbed wire will be delivered to farmers, and will also receive support from the official insurance agency, Agrodosa.

Estévez added that the areas most affected were the central Cibao valley, Duarte province (central), especially the Bajo Yuna basin rice paddies, the banana, and plantain plantations in Mao and Montecristi (northwest).