The Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture will be signing agreements with 24 farmers in the Arecibo region to assign funding that will generate $676,132 in economic activity, agency officials said.
The Puerto Rico Agriculture Department has been awarded $352,290 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop eight projects that will increase sales of specialty crops by improving food safety through training and mentoring programs, the federal agency announced Tuesday.
Following a five-year absence from the local market, Industrias Lecheras de Puerto Rico will again sell its traditional white cheese in more than 3,000 establishments, including supermarkets, gas stations and grocery stores, Larry Lugo-Cruz, president of the company known as Indulac said.
The Puerto Rico Farm Bureau “outed” local retailers Thursday, claiming they have failed to reduce plantain prices at the register despite an abundance of the staple item at the farm level.
Walmart Puerto Rico has reached an agreement with agribusiness Gargiulo Farms in Santa Isabel, to buy more than 9,000 pounds of pineapples weekly, “reaffirming its commitment to the island’s economic and the creation of jobs,” said Viviana Mercado, corporate affairs representative for the retailer.
The government of Puerto Rico will be investing $1.2 million to assist farmers in Lajas and Guánica to begin harvesting long-grain brown rice as part of a pilot project that should produce 6.5 million pounds of the grain by December.
Walmart Puerto Rico announced this week that as part of its efforts to strengthen local agricultural production, it recently signed agreements to buy large amounts of onions and oranges from local farmers.
Puerto Rico farmers and rural small businesses for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects looking to develop energy efficiency and renewable energy projects have the chance to obtain funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program, agency Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced.
The Puerto Rico Energy Affairs Administration and the U.S. Department of Agricultrue —through the National Resources Conservation Service — announced the availability of funds for energy audits aimed at reducing energy consumption at their farms and help farmers upgrade equipment through the Environmental Quality Incentives program.
The Agriculture Department launched Tuesday a $1 million institutional multimedia advertising campaign that aims to lift the consumption of local products from its current 20 percent level by inviting consumers to “buy local.”
Agriculture Secretary Javier Rivera-Aquino has set off an agressive strategic plan to convince private banks, which for years have shied away from the volatile sector, to invest in farming activity and new projects.
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