Farming disaster?

[Chris]

Originally Posted by PICHARDO

Dominican grower's associations tend to over-blow damages in order to get money from the gov and low or no interest credit from the Banks to get them to their feet...

In this case for at least three growers associations and for the DR's biggest export crop, this generalization does not hold true.

Originally Posted by PICHARDO

If anything, the soil is now even better to seed than before the flooding took place.Rivers are rich in deposits, most notably minerals and salts...

The topsoil is washed away in many areas. The irrigation systems are washed away in many fields. The paddies are washed away in rice fields. So this generalization does not hold true in this instance either. There is a big job of re-establishing the agricultural lands before 'quickly' seeding or planting.

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by Chris

In this case for at least three growers associations and for the DR's biggest export crop, this generalization does not hold true.

The fact I must tell you it that even those growers that generally don't get funds from the gov for emergencies like the one indicated, do however enjoy tax free incentives to recap their losses and bring their sembradios to pre-devastation levels.

Originally Posted by Chris

The topsoil is washed away in many areas. The irrigation systems are washed away in many fields. The paddies are washed away in rice fields. So this generalization does not hold true in this instance either. There is a big job of re-establishing the agricultural lands before 'quickly' seeding or planting.

The top soil is only washed away in conditions where the sembradios where located right about the natural limits of the rivers and irrigation channels.
The sembradios which cater to the export niche are not affected as much as cooperatives, mostly because they are the owners of much of the flat lands and Cooperatives are the ones with the rolling hills for the norm...

However, that there are instances where this won't hold water is not questioned, but for the most part it applies to the majority of affected fields.

[Chris]

Picardo, I really don't know what you are talking about.

Up to this point I have not found one farmer that is happy about the 'fertile soil' that the river dumped on the lands.

Up to this point I have not found one cooperative that is happy about having to rehabilitate their own and their members' fields.

Up to this point I have not found one producer, whether they have flat land or rolling hills, that is happy about the condition of the topsoil.

Up to this point, I have not spoken to one cooperative that makes a distinction between hilly land and flat land. Usually this is defined by crop, and not by who owns what. I really don't understand your point. A large portion of the cost to rehabilitate fields is the crop. Fruit trees have drowned. Producers need to buy new ones from Costa Rica where they are laboratory cloned.

Up to this point, I have not found one cooperative happy about tax incentives, whether registered a zona franca or not. They say this is going to cost a lot of money, tax incentives don't register a blip on the charts.

[PICHARDO]

If you ask any Dominican if he's happy about anything, he sure will say not about one single thing is O.K.!!!

Let me say this clear: The farm land above the natural river bed and irrigation systems was left UNTOUCHED!!!

Top soils were not eroded from the flat fertile lands!!!!!!!!!!! Not true!!!!! Only rolling hills and flat land "directly" used within the natural (claimed land from the low river banks) reclaimed by the currents shows signs of top soil erosion, but then, it wasn't farming soil to begin with; this land was part of the natural rivers that was taken...

The fertile flat lands that are further out but still flooded from the spill of the rivers that were blocked in their natural run and irrigation systems, got de facto "mineralized" by this same water, as the heavier sediments and silica deposits, were blocked by the already present vegetation and crops.

I studied agronomy in my youth, as my family owned several rice paddies and other crops, so I cant tell you from experience that the flooding of the lands will be more of a long term blessing than anything else.
The types of "Damages" reported as substantial, are the ones that call for crops to be replaced along irrigation systems, tools, sheds, etc... Nothing more!

All this said, there are several places that suffered heavy erosion and rocky sediment from the river's path. But to account all damages as "total" is inane to say just a bit...

Like I said: Most damages incurred were felt most by niches aimed at exporting high quality crops to the external market, not the local!
The local market only gets to see the crops that don't meet the quality standards to export and are dumped in the local market.

That's why there's such of a shortage of crops today, but only because the dumped crops were a good size of the local consumption market...

That tells you that the best quality of crops rarely makes it to the local market...

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by Chris

Picardo, I really don't know what you are talking about.

Up to this point I have not found one farmer that is happy about the 'fertile soil' that the river dumped on the lands.

Up to this point I have not found one cooperative that is happy about having to rehabilitate their own and their members' fields.

Up to this point I have not found one producer, whether they have flat land or rolling hills, that is happy about the condition of the topsoil.

Up to this point, I have not spoken to one cooperative that makes a distinction between hilly land and flat land. Usually this is defined by crop, and not by who owns what. I really don't understand your point. A large portion of the cost to rehabilitate fields is the crop. Fruit trees have drowned. Producers need to buy new ones from Costa Rica where they are laboratory cloned.

Up to this point, I have not found one cooperative happy about tax incentives, whether registered a zona franca or not. They say this is going to cost a lot of money, tax incentives don't register a blip on the charts.

Banana producers get a break
Dominican banana producers received the financing they were promised by President Leonel Fernandez, which will help the sector to recover on a large scale. The financing will be processed through Banco Agricola and is for an initial RD$400 million at a 6% annual interest rate. Fernandez made the promise to the sector after banana plantations in the north and northeast were devastated by Tropical Storm Olga and Noel and the opening of the Tavera dam floodgates. Dominican Banana Producers Association president Eddy Cabrera asked the government to build special 100km walls to contain the flooding of the North Yaque River, between Santiago and Montecristi. Cabrera, along with other representatives from the sector, said that if nothing is done, flooding would recur and keep causing problems. Cabrera explained that the sector has lost 78,000 acres of bananas, leading to concerns about the effect on the DR's banana exports, and the sector provides 35,000 jobs in the northeastern region. Cabrera, quoted in Hoy, claims that the sector has lost RD$900 million and would produce just 4.5 million 18.14kg boxes of bananas this year. Former Banana Association president Salvador Estevez says that the RD$900 million in losses doesn't include the RD$750 million in lost export revenues. DR1


Some of the published ones, many still are getting their tax incentives as well as loans of this kind via the Banco Agricola and other gov institutions...

[Chris]

OK, from today's DR1 news ...

The Banana Grower's Association reported that 78,000 tareas of land (a little over 3,000 hectares) were affected by the floodwaters.