Viandharina, a new agro-industrial company based in Salinas, has opened for business in the south following a $1.6 million investment in a plant that seeks to substitute imports of several Puerto Rican food staples, including sweet and green plantain and breadfruit “tostones.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Juan M. Ortiz-Serbiá announced Thursday that the agency has made available financial assistance to eligible Puerto Rico’s citrus growers for the removal of trees afflicted with “Huanglongbing” (HLB, also known as citrus greening) and for replanting groves with new healthy stock.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials from the agency’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Food and Nutrition Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Rural Development, joined Puerto Rico’s First Lady, Wilma Pastrana on Wednesday to announce the expansion of its StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity program into Puerto Rico.