NewsWhore
01-11-2012, 03:50 PM
Prior to the era of the export free zones, the Dominican Republic was famous for what was known as its "dessert economy," according to an article in yesterday's El Caribe. The country's main exports were coffee, cacao and sugar. Government taxes and low export prices led to coffee and cacao plantations being abandoned, and lack of government investment resulted in the collapse of many sugar plantations. But now, with high world market prices for these commodities, investors are plowing funds into renovating these sectors by restoring crops and starting new farms, said Isidoro de la Rosa, of the Dominican Cacao Producers Confederation (Conacado).
In a recent article in Hoy, farm expert Jose Martinez Rojas mentioned that the Grupo Vitienes is planting 21,000 tareas of cacao, Romana Corporation has planted another 10,000 tareas [1 tarea =629 m2, 6.433 tareas=1 acre, 15.89 tareas= 1 hectare], and Grupo Vicini also has plans to invest in cacao, which would make the DR the leading Latin American cacao bean exporter. In 2009-2010, cacao exports were US$174.1 million, up from US$162.3 million in 2008-2009. See
Likewise, the director of the Dominican Coffee Council (Codocafe) Fausto Burgos says there are investments of RD$1 billion in a 400,000-tarea plantation belonging to Industrias Banilejas (Induban), producers of the Cafe Santo Domingo brand. Likewise, a project owned by former Central Bank governor Luis Toral involves the planting of another 5,000 tareas. Codocafe says exports are at 125,000 quintals and this generated US$25 million in 2010-2011, much better than previous export years.
The El Caribe report says that sugar producers have planted 800,000 tareas of sugar cane with prospects for a considerable increase in the areas planted, depending on financing that is secured, according to Bernardo Diaz, president of the Dominican Sugar Plantation Owners Federation (Fedoca). He says the level of production has only been enough to meet the US quota, and sugar even had to be imported to meet domestic market demands.
http://www.hoy.com.do/opiniones/2011/12/16/406327/Bonos-y-reconocimientos-a-los-cacaocultores
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/01/10/economia-del-ruta-segunda-era
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
In a recent article in Hoy, farm expert Jose Martinez Rojas mentioned that the Grupo Vitienes is planting 21,000 tareas of cacao, Romana Corporation has planted another 10,000 tareas [1 tarea =629 m2, 6.433 tareas=1 acre, 15.89 tareas= 1 hectare], and Grupo Vicini also has plans to invest in cacao, which would make the DR the leading Latin American cacao bean exporter. In 2009-2010, cacao exports were US$174.1 million, up from US$162.3 million in 2008-2009. See
Likewise, the director of the Dominican Coffee Council (Codocafe) Fausto Burgos says there are investments of RD$1 billion in a 400,000-tarea plantation belonging to Industrias Banilejas (Induban), producers of the Cafe Santo Domingo brand. Likewise, a project owned by former Central Bank governor Luis Toral involves the planting of another 5,000 tareas. Codocafe says exports are at 125,000 quintals and this generated US$25 million in 2010-2011, much better than previous export years.
The El Caribe report says that sugar producers have planted 800,000 tareas of sugar cane with prospects for a considerable increase in the areas planted, depending on financing that is secured, according to Bernardo Diaz, president of the Dominican Sugar Plantation Owners Federation (Fedoca). He says the level of production has only been enough to meet the US quota, and sugar even had to be imported to meet domestic market demands.
http://www.hoy.com.do/opiniones/2011/12/16/406327/Bonos-y-reconocimientos-a-los-cacaocultores
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/01/10/economia-del-ruta-segunda-era
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)