SAN FRANCISCO DE MACORÍS – In a decisive move signaling a major agricultural policy shift, Dominican Agriculture Minister Francisco Oliverio Espaillat has declared the nation’s commitment to permanently reduce its reliance on Haitian farm labor through comprehensive mechanization and technological modernization.
Minister Espaillat, during an extensive tour of the Northwest and Northeast agricultural regions, characterized the diminishing Haitian workforce as both increasingly scarce and economically burdensome for local producers. He emphasized that this labor shortage represents a structural challenge requiring fundamental transformation rather than temporary solutions.
Under direct instructions from President Luis Abinader, the ministry is preparing to launch a national agricultural machinery exposition featuring state-of-the-art equipment including precision seeders, automated harvesters, agricultural drones, and other innovative technologies. The government will facilitate this transition through favorable financing arrangements with credit terms extending up to seven years.
Espaillat identified complete mechanization as a cornerstone of national agricultural policy, highlighting crops like rice as particularly suitable for full production cycle automation. As an immediate measure, he ordered a comprehensive nationwide inventory of all ministry-owned agricultural equipment to optimize resource allocation and support producers.
The minister’s regional engagement included substantive meetings with rice growers in Castañuela to assess current sector conditions, the inauguration of new regional agriculture directors, and an inspection of the La Cruz de Manzanillo Project to evaluate its operational status and development progress.