agriculture

Credit program yielding results

The program seeks to increase productivity and competitiveness of the country’s agricultural activities.

la prensa/carlos lemos

in Barú: Some 58 hectares in the area remain available for agricultural use.1111474

Impulso Panamá, a program designed to boost credit availability for staple foods and export goods, should be up and running in all nine provinces within the next two years, reported Mario Domínguez, general coordinator of the program.

The financing program was developed by the combined efforts of the Agricultural Competitiveness and the National Trust following the passage of a package of agricultural bills in September 2006.

“This program seeks to increase productivity and competitiveness of current agricultural activities as well as to encourage the use of specialized technical services that generate advances in the industry,” added Domínguez.

Some 10 banks and 16 cooperatives have signed on to Impulso Panamá, which is largely aimed at supporting small to medium-size growers with loans guaranteed by the Institute of Agriculture. Among them is the Banco de Desarrollo Agropecuario, which allocated $20 million toward the project, and $9 million of it has already been disbursed among several projects at the national level.

Farmers wishing to participate in the program must agree to a contract for future delivery of produce, ensure their crops and seek out technical assistance.

According to Héctor Mendieta of the Cooperative of United Farmers in Tonosí, in the Los Santos province, the program has been well received by farmers in the region.

So far this year, 156 rice and corn farmers registered with the program, in addition to the 57 local growers who took part last year. “And we’ve had some good yields,” said Mendieta.