Agriculture allocates $256K to promote goat, sheep milk and meat production
The Puerto Rico Agriculture Department’s Administration for the Development of Agricultural Enterprises has allocated $256,000 to promote growth and development in the island’s Small Ruminants production industry.
Agriculture Secretary Carlos
Flores described the move as important for the sector “after the Department
succeeded for the first time last year, in organizing the sector with a board
that now has the ability to work with the agency to set goals that seek to
increase the production of milk and meat from small ruminants.”
The measure allocated $231,000
for the purchase of female sheep and goats and their transport to Puerto Rico.
This allocation will benefit 22 sheep and goat farmers on the island. The
initiative also assigned funds to cover 75 percent of the purchase up to $10,500
per farmer.
The Small Ruminants Industry Development
Fund will offer an initial training session about the order on Feb. in the town
of Isabela.
“It has come at the right
time. The island needs to increase the production of meat and milk from
ruminants, especially when getting quality wombs is more difficult for us
producers than finding gold,” said agronomist and sheep producer, Ricardo
Zapater.
“After the hurricane, our farms
were affected and this order will greatly facilitate the possibility of buying
new wombs,” he said.
On the other hand, of goat milk
producer María Teresa Juan-Urrutia agreed that the order provides a valuable
tool to accelerate the process that seeks to address the shortage of goat wombs
on the island.
