This is a no-brainer. Agriculture should always be a priority in DR regardless of what's going on in the world.

yes and the opportunities are in organic products .....the world is calling out for them..... Move to profitable export crops that Dominicans can learn to eat as well..........potatoes and onions are a mistake and should be imported....Keep in mind for the most part caricom islands are rocks and have to import everything

What are my people waiting for... LETS DO IT.

The idea is beautiful and it should be like that, we have so much land available for agriculture,
the only trouble is,
damn prices of gasoline, gas oil, fuel oil, greases and oil are skyrocketing,
that is the reason why so many farmers have partially abandon the agriculture,
and I don't even believe there are enough "buelles y arados" , plus the time consumption,
that would make that profitable any longer,
only the cost to mantain a tractor makes almost prohibitive for any farmer to sustain,
it's the government who shoud make programs in this matter.

they have been talking about this for years,

If DR does this it will become an industrilized country by 2020!

The D.R., may now looked more seriously at its farms/agriculture instead of " Tuorism ". It will have to do some serious convincing to a genarations of young farmers who had been ignore for so many decades. People only act when they find themselves against the wall, but now there is money in agriculture, I mean the kind that they can pay attention to. Still this actions are not meant to save the poor but to put more money in someone pockets cause their attitude as far as the poor is concerned " save yourself if you can ". Another is " some must be poor so that others can be rich ". The problem is that they (the poor) are the majority.Can a country sell the bsic food product at a very cheap price -- yes -- but they don't cause their excuses among others is demands vs. production or production vs. demands. Give food to the people there's more than enough, there is no shortest of food only evil , mean people..

Teaching and training our farmers to plant organic agriculture is not only profitable but healthy and sensible as well. I concur with Gouletcolonial that the industrialized world is consuming more organic products. Our nation exports organic bananas in great numbers, lets expand beyond that. We can give our farmers the incentive needed to stay and work in our fertile campos without the need to migrate to crowded cities such as the capital. We must also train our port workers to use correct sanitation procedures and proper labels to avoid rejection of shipping containers upon arrival of their destination. Lets use economic common sense.

The biggest problem we face is the lack of infrastructure in the countryside. I have 33 acres about 40 miles outside of Santo Domingo as the crow flies and it takes me more than four hours to get there. We produce many valuable tropical fruits but can'd get them to market without damaging them. Exporting is out of the question because of this. When I suggest improvements to the local governing bodies I run into glassyeyed stares. They do not seem to understand that we need to invest in infrastructure like roads and electricity to support and create viable, productive and lucrative farms. In addition, what we don't lose for lack of infrastructure, we lose to thieves. My relatives in Santo Domingo think I'm crazy for even thinking of making this thing productive and I'm starting to think that they are right. This country can not only feed itsellf, it could also feed all our neighbors if only we had a true vision of the great potential that we posess.

juan keep up the fight

Edward, can you explain to me how agricultural initiatives result in industrialisation? i have always enjoyed your optimism , but i fail to make the connection this time. can you help me here?

Dreadlocks, if a country is self sufficient in food production, it can set up food processing plants so as to avoid wasting what it produces thus giving it the ability to not only feed itself but also export the surplus. Exports bring in money which can then be invested in other forms of processing (manufacturing). Ask yourself the next time you go into a supermarket where all those food products come from? What you find in the supermarkets are the products of industrialization because that food comes from factories (via the farm). Factories need machines that have to be maintained. The processed product needs to be transported (more machines) etc. This is pretty basic stuff and I'm surprised you even asked the question. Why do you think that the advanced economies jealously guard and subsidize their agricultural sectors? Why do they have universities that study and research better agricultural techniques? If we cannot feed ourselves we will be at the mercy of others.

Here it comes ! .......DATA and STATISTICS.......ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

In short read all about it in todays New York Times great article on agriculture in modern society with plenty of background info....http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18....ess/worldbusiness/18focus.html?hp

after reading ask yourself about what the Treehuggers and leftys call Frankenfood.....I bet Frankenfood would look pretty good to somebody starving.....Press on Monsanto

juansantodomingo, i repeat, there is no connection between agriculture, money, and industrialisation. at the outset of the industrial revolution, england, france and the usa were no better off financially than spain was, but they industrialised while spain remained agrarian for a long while after. as to gouletcolonial´s apparent disdain for data and statistics, that is because his mind is too simple to analyse anything. he would rather make ignorant opinionated assertions which cannot be supported by facts, hoping to convince the readers that he knows something by default. he resents those who can disagree with him factually..he also resents those whom he sees as a threat, because he wants to be seen as the king of the forum. that is why he posts every minute of every day on every subject. a part from the fact that he has no friends, of course. goulet, if i arrange to send you a nintendo setup, will you play with it and just go away quietly?

Your remarks are beneath contempt .....I am going to go and get my Pinata stick back from the compra y venta and will use it again on you.........Now start spewing your DATA and STATISTICS but please o please not with such pomposity

goulet, i know guys like you very well. when the data comes from a caucasian, it is because he is educated on the subject. when it comes from a black man, he is pompous. you see, we are all supposed to write in rap slangs and ebonics for people such as yourself to find us aceptable. every other word sould be a four letter obscenity, and misspellings should abound. if we write like we went to college, it is because we are pompous. well, sorry, goulet. this is how i learned to express myself, and i will not change my style to please you or any other massa.

Again with the slimy race card from the bottom of the deck ...I dont care if you are green ....you are a pompous wind bag and worse a socialist pompous windbag .... a socialist racist pompous wind bag....your pretentiousness is unappealing coming from anyone ....... With the racial comments it becomes ugly

If you cant take it go away again for ever ....nobody wants your whining and complaining..".fuera la cocina "

I post all day because I enjoy it .......and I worked hard enough all my life to be able to afford it.....what do I enjoy ? .........letting the wind out of your balloon

i am not going anywhere, goulet. somebody has to stand up to the colonialist exploiters who believe that demands for a fair wage constitute whining. you can sit with your golf buddies in casa de campo and bestow five peso largesses on shoeshine boys; i will always advocate that people deserve to be fairly treated. dirtbags such as yourself find this to be disingenuous, because the idea is so far removed from your mind ,it becomes ridiculous. you, on the other hand, are just a reprobate who sees the majority of society as an inconvenience. ever considered genocide?

Air bag schoolteacher of the lefty socialist separatist bent comes to spew his racist garbage on his lunch hour then tries to pass off his " Rise up Dominicans you are stupid for allowing whitey here."....... as humanitarian preaching about the underdog .....whine whine whine and complain pompously and pretentiously same old saw with DATA and STATISTICS.....the USA is responsible for our misery you say and you can prove it .......you know a flunky in Caricom.....and more D and S

you are nothing more than belial light

if my surmise is correct, you are probably a part of the flotilla of detritus fidel castro expunged from cuba when he took power. if this is correct, then he can be given credit for at least one thing; he alleviated the future misery of all the victims of your odious and loathsome presence. however, there is always a downside to things, so i have to temper by admiration of this act with some equivocation. you see, by the law of unintended consequences, ( one the part of fidel), you have gone on to be a pain in the backside of the hemisphere. nobody seems to have been saved your toxicity, as you seem to have lived just about everywhere, which, in your case , is understandable. i hardly think there is any creature on earth which can abide you for anything more than a fleeting moment. someone should at least have advised the bearded one that it is impolite and bad form to throw your garbage in other people´s yards.

And it wont be long before we will be going back to relieve our selves on top the graves of your heroes fidelito and phony doctor che the T shirt salesman

you, quite imaginably, will be there to attempt to restore chattel slavery..oops, i forgot. it is just business!

obsessed with that word arent you,,,,,well if you are ever going to become a success in this world you better get over it....unless you are Al Sharpton or that type you wont be able to make a living

goulet, i may not have as much money as you, but i managed to get an education. in some circles, the ones in which you do not travel, getting an education is considered success. you believe only merchants are successful, but i beg to differ. anyone can buy something for a peso and sell it for ten.. anyone can lend money at extortionate rates...anybody can be a slumlord. it takes sacrifice and perseverance to educate one´s self. if you do not believe me, try to become educated yourself. you will realise that it is hard work. maybe that is why you chose to eschew an education and take the easy way out, buying and selling for profit..

Poor "Dread the Red". Does he really think big emotions come from big words?' .'He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.' ....the fool....the pretentious fool

the words only look big to you , Goulet, because you are so hopelessly deficient. they are normal english words, in everyday useage. you are only mad because you would rather see me act like ¨my bunch¨ and use more 4 letter words. by the way, i just noticed that yet another poster has requested that you do not speak with him. are you yet beginning to think that maybe you are the vermin of broadband, or that the rest of us have no taste?

I am glad you heeded my advice and stay clear of the posting on dominican /haitain relations it is outside trouble makers like you who only make it worse

actually, Goulet, i heed no advice from you. i stay away from haitian/ dominican postings for 2 reasons;
1) they are usually asinine, racist, xenophobic rants which go on forever, with nincompoops on both sides vieing for the title of world´s silliest human being. the issue remains beyond resolution, because you, Goulet, refuse to allow others to have at least a fleeting hold on the trophy.
2) they sometimes detour into a tour de force of learning and information, especially regarding the history of hispaniola. when the heavyweights such as cibaeno and Mr Lautaro weigh in with facts, i am out of my depth, and would rather just look and learn. that runs counter to your instincts, in which the less you know, the more you bray. or you just drag the discourse off the track with some idiotic remarks. you have comprehensively degraded this forum, albeit with some help from your fellow travellers.

you are finally getting the big picture .....now bugger off