Peña announces farming boost

Friday, 29 August 2014 01:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thenews.com.mx

Peña announces farming boost

EPN: Mexico is a leader in agriculture

BY MAURILIO SOTO

The News

MEXICO CITY – So far this year, the federal government has invested 338 billion pesos ($25.8 billion) in agriculture production, because the development of the sector is fundamental in order to create a more prosperous Mexico, said President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday.

Speaking at the Closing and Swearing in Ceremony for the new president of the National Confederation of Campesinos (CNC) in Zapopan, Jalisco, Peña Nieto said that the amount of agricultural investment this year represents an increase of 32.7 billion pesos from 2012.

Peña Nieto said that the country is a leader in agriculture and livestock production at an international level and he said that his administration “understands that the development of agriculture is indispensable for the construction of a prosperous Mexico.”

Under the new leadership of the CNC, the Interior Secretary and the Finance Secretariat, Peña Nieto said that the agriculture industry will be transformed and developed as part of the new Proagro Productivity program.

The program will benefit 7 million men and women who work in the agriculture industry with simpler rules, streamlined procedures, support differentiated according to size and region of the producer, and the timely delivery of resources to optimize the planting season, he said.

Peña Nieto said that between January and July, the Proagro program delivered more than 11 billion pesos to two million producers in an efficient and timely way.

Furthermore, the president said that agriculture producers will be granted more loans with better interest rates from the new National Finance for Agricultural, Rural, Forestry and Fisheries Development (FND) agency established by the recently approved financial reforms.

This year, the development bank will award 44 billion pesos in credit with an interest rate at or bellow 10 percent, said the president.

Thanks to energy reform the national fertilizer industry will be reactivated, said Peña Nieto. Fertilizer “is a vital element to ensure a better yield of agriculture,” said the president.

“The changes in the agriculture sector are the right changes to transform the face of agriculture in Mexico, changes from the bottom that demonstrate that, for the president, agriculture is and will continue to be a priority,” said Peña Nieto.