The Ministry of Agriculture informed that from July 1 to September 30, the temporary ban on the cultivation of several fruits and vegetables, specifically those that are hosts of the whitefly, will begin.
The Regional Council of Integrated Pest Management alerted producers to abide by this official provision established by Resolution No. 45-08 of the Department of Plant Health of the Ministry of Agriculture, which aims to break the cycle of the pest to ensure the protection of plantations.
The Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, opened a process through the regional directorates to support all producers in the planting of non-host crops to strengthen and continue to ensure food production in the Dominican Republic.
“And to fulfill the mission of the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, to guarantee food security,” he said.
The regional council is composed of the directors and technical staff of the Central, South and Southwest regions of Agriculture.
“From now on we must establish compliance with the ban so that after the first (of July) we do not have a host crop for whitefly. The producers must be the first to contribute to this and approach us (Agriculture) to look for alternative crops that we can plant,” said the Vice Minister of Production, Eulalio Ramírez, at the head of the meeting in Azua.
He also thanked, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, the willingness of the agribusinesses to always work “very punctually with the official authorities, to keep food production high in all these areas and their willingness to comply with the regulations”.
Also present at the meeting were Ángela Pérez, governor of Azua; Juan Clase, deputy national director of Plant Health; Luis Zoquier, from the Association of Canned Food Manufacturers of Agriculture (Afconagro); Luis Cabrera, from the Federation of Independent Farmers Mamá Tingó (FECAINMAT); Juan Mateo, Southwest Regional director; Gregorio de los Santos, South Regional director; Rafael Soto, director of the Central Regional; and Porfirio Álvarez, from the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD).
