2024-04-27 22:02:21
When delivering the positive balance of the agricultural sector during the season of the climatic phenomenon, the head of the portfolio detailed the actions that were carried out by the sector to guarantee food production.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Jhenifer Mojica, described the management carried out to confront the El Niño phenomenon in the country as an articulated and unprecedented effort. Anticipatory measures, clear and permanent information, support for agricultural producers and economic support for direct deliveries or through lines of credit were key to ensuring that this climatic event did not generate catastrophic effects on the Colombian countryside.
In this regard, Minister Mojica delivered “a report of tranquility on the issues of the agricultural sector. Fortunately, the El Niño phenomenon did not noticeably impact food production and this is confirmed by the fact that we had a first quarter of the year in which the food supply increased in all supply centers, there was no risk of shortages anywhere. from the country”.
The readiness plan to face this climate phenomenon began in March 2023 with the forecasts provided by Ideam that warned of the arrival of a strong El Niño. For this reason, entities in the agricultural sector focused their efforts to mitigate the impact through prevention and preparation.
From then on, the ministry designed, as a first measure, lines of credit for small and medium-sized producers to make investments in irrigation and drainage, soil adaptation, planting, infrastructure and machinery, among others.
With 250 credit operations, investment projects valued at $12,494 million were leveraged, focused on the prevention and mitigation of effects caused by El Niño. The Government of Change provided an interest rate subsidy worth $1,176 million, which facilitated the delivery of these resources to small and medium-sized producers, guaranteeing the financial inclusion of this population group.
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78% of these credits were allocated to irrigation and drainage projects so that agricultural producers had adequate water management during the period of greatest intensity of El Niño.
In the financial line, the activation of the Access Fund to Agricultural Inputs, FAIA, for coffee growers and agricultural producers also stands out. With a purse of $124.2 billion, the purchase of fertilizers for crops and balanced feed for animals was supported.
“Of that amount, we allocate $58.7 billion to coffee growers, which is equivalent to 47% of the resources. The financial aid programs that we deliver have to do with reactivation due to climate impacts, a measure that we adopted to try to mitigate the economic effects of El Niño on productions such as coffee,” said the minister.
Articulation with the governorates
With the declaration of the disaster situation due to the phenomenon by the relevant authorities, the agricultural sector was already several steps ahead and what followed was the installation of the Unified Command Post, PMU, so that the departmental Secretaries of Agriculture could deliver their reports about the effects in their territories. With the contribution of the entities attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, an application was designed, which the territorial entities must complete to monitor the impact of El Niño in the territory, which had the participation of the Carabineros Police.
This information is the official input for emergency response, given that the effects in the sector are evident there. For the distribution of this aid, the impact on crops of products that are part of the family basket, crops affected by rainfall deficit, impacted planted area and prioritization of areas with the greatest number of animals affected by the summer were taken into account.
“This aid is delivered every day, but it depends on the activation of the emergency and the verification of the effects,” highlighted the minister.
The agricultural equipment consists of a water storage tank with a capacity of 2,000 liters, four one-inch spray cannons, two rolls of 100-meter hose, a 6.5 HP motor pump, 20 liters of foliar biofertilizers and 20 kilos of hydroretainer.
The livestock farms, for their part, include a 2,000-liter storage tank, two rolls of 100-meter hose, a 6.5 HP motor pump, a 250-liter waterer, 200 kilos of panelera honey and six packages of soy mixture. and corn.
Of these pieces of equipment, 3,831 have been delivered, and in the coming days another 3,213 will be distributed to affected producers.
“All these actions resulted in no shortages in the first three months. The CPI continues to be pulled downwards thanks to the food production sector and the agricultural sector. We have a CPI that in March confirms that it is the agriculture and food production sector that is driving inflation downward, that is, all Colombians owe to the agriculture sector and the producers of peasant, family and community, which produces 60% of our food, that we have a cost of living that no country has today, in the midst of this universal crisis,” the minister concluded.
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