President delivers machinery to make rice production more efficient

Within the framework of the Resilient Agriculture Project, which is implemented with the support of the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Agriculture receives dozens of state-of-the-art machinery for the implementation of an irrigation model, efficient water use and an improvement in rice production in the lower basin of the Yaque del Norte River, with an investment exceeding RD$100 million pesos.

The President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, upon handing over to Minister Limber Cruz, said that these machines are part of a project of new technologies for the agricultural sector, offering efficiency, effectiveness, and improved field productivity.

The president delivered 8 (eight) 20-row seeders with seed and fertilizer deposits for zero tillage; 4 (four) articulated tractors (Chupacabras) with integrated GPS for fumigation and fertilization.

In addition, six (6) tractors for agricultural work, two (2) compacting mureadores for the formation of walls with the capacity to sow, two (2) multi-blade graders for conditioning the soil to variable leveling, four (4) balers for rice straw and four straw aligners.

Also, four rice forage harvesters, two (2) ditchers for wet soils and 12 water flow meters to measure water consumption in the system versus conventional.

This technological Innovation model is part of the agricultural mechanization policy implemented by the Dominican Government with the aim of reducing production costs, replacing labor, increasing productivity, and doubling the GDP by 2036.

This new production model will be implemented for 3 years at the Bioarroz Experimental Station in Palo Verde, Montecristi as a pilot farm, and will be validated by 864 rice producers on 52 thousand tareas.

This mechanization process involves zero tillage, spraying and fertilization, stubble management, and straw packing will be carried out for drought mitigation for the benefit of ranchers in arid areas.

Minister Limber Cruz thanked the president and international organizations for the equipment received, and said that with these machines they will work efficiently in the rice fields, while resiliently impacting a water economy, using less of the liquid in irrigation work.