Supporting Growth

How has the ministry supported the improvement of agricultural technology in the Dominican Republic?

One of the most important projects is the expansion of greenhouses. In 2004, we had around 200,000sqm of greenhouse production; we have now increased that to 10 million sqm. The Dominican Republic has many advantages in terms of climate and microclimates that allow us to produce high-quality products throughout the entire year. In greenhouse production, we have had specific issues with post-harvesting management. Therefore, we created a public-private partnership to resolve that issue and improve our export products’ quality, particularly their shelf-life once they reach other markets. That is why we have been working with the private sector to standardize these post-harvesting management procedures. Another important project is our in-vitro laboratory, BIOVEGA. We established this lab with the aim of producing plants with high-quality genetics while focusing on especially important commodities, such as bananas and plantains. We had the goal of improving productivity and resistance to diseases and have teamed up with researchers from Belgium and France to do so.

How does the ministry support the promotion of agricultural exports?

We have identified plant and animal health as a cornerstone for exports here in the Dominican Republic and we are working with different institutions like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and many others to ensure our animal and plant health protocols are standardized and open for any market. When we took office, we had to face two difficult issues. The first was the detection of the Mediterranean fruit fly in Punta Cana. When we started working in 2014, we had just 200 traps in the whole country to capture the medfly. Now, we have around 14,000 traps and have seen encouraging results. The second issue that we had to face here in 2014 was the audit carried out by the DG Santé, the EU plant health authority. On this audit, our country was found to ship too many products not meeting EU health standards. This meant we were threatened with losing access to the European market, an immensely important one, if things did not change quickly. We sanctioned exporters, suspended exporter licenses, installed systems of hard and cold-water treatment in companies, and implemented prerequisites for them to export. A year later, we went from 176 notifications to just 32, and have increased exports.

What are the benefits and disadvantages that CAFTA-DR has brought to the Dominican agriculture sector?

The CAFTA-DR agreement has brought many advantages to our national economy but it has also negatively impacted some of our most economic and socially important products. As a country, we are trying to compete, but sometimes it is difficult to compete against much larger economies and their subsidies. Commercial trade and agreements are important, but it is also important to ensure the wellbeing of all parties involved. Total trade with the US is worth more than USD10 billion a year and, as allies, we need to take care of each other.

What are the goals and priorities of the Ministry of Agriculture?

We want to go from the current agricultural system to a precision one. For starters, there is less water and we need to switch to precision irrigation systems in the banana, bean, and vegetable industries. We also want to introduce high- quality and genetically strong seeds into every farm and every product. We also want to increase technical services to small and medium-sized farmers by rebuilding our eight regional offices and becoming more of a technical service institution. That will enable farmers to get help at every stage through to the end of production and is what we must do.