Agriculture ups price on surplus bananas
In a meeting that took place 31 July 2018 in Mao, Valverde province, Minister of Agriculture Osmar Benitez, negotiated with the representatives of the Dominican Association of Banana Producers (ADOBANANO) and offered a 75% increase in the initial government offer to purchase hundreds of tons of surplus bananas from this summer’s harvest.
Benitez told reporters from the Diario Libre that the government was investing some RD$300 million in order to preserve the viability of this export crop and the 32,000 jobs it provides along the northwest part of the country. The bananas, originally destined for export, will be sold instead to the government at export prices.
The minister said that beginning next week the bananas will be distributed to such diverse places as army outposts, police stations, military bases, the Comedores Economicos, the Presidential Social Plan and public hospitals.
The Association of Banana Producers said that it will support the state in its efforts to alleviate the current glut of bananas in the marketplace, accepting the price offered by the government for some 120 containers each week over the next 18 weeks or so as a huge summer-fall harvest reaches its peak.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Aug 2, 2018
Category: DR News |