|
The DOMINICAN REPUBLIC occupies an area of 49,000 km2, the major part of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, with Haiti occupying the smaller, western part of the island. The Dominican Republic had a population of 8.4 million in 1999,and about a quarter of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, which makes up 14% of the GDP. It is a tropical country with extensive fertile areas lying between mountain ranges; about 20% is arable land. General information - GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 5,710
- Internal renewable water resources: 20 km3
- Main food consumed: rice, oil and fat, sugar and honey, fruits, wheat
- Rice consumption, 1999: 42.9 kg milled rice per person per year
Production constraints
There are several constraints to sustainable rice production in the Dominican Republic: - Limited irrigation water supply and poor maintenance of irrigation infrastructure
- Poor drainage in the Yuma and Camu river basins and salinity problems in valleys and basins of the Yaque River in Dajabón
- Yield potentials of irrigated rice varieties have reached a plateau
- Weed competition: Heteranthera reniformis, Echinochloa colona, Ischaemum rugosum
- Blast, rice hoja blanca virus,Helminthosporium oryzae, Corticium sasaki,
Cercospora oryzae - Insects: Lissorhoptrus orizophilus, thrips, Spodoptera frijiperda, Solubea sp.
- High production costs, lack of credit supply
- National policy of maintaining low food (rice) prices for urban consumers
Production season | | | | Planting | Harvesting | Main season | Mar-Apr | Jul-Aug | Basic statistics, Dominican Republic |
| 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | Rice | Area harvested (ha) | 110,301 | 89,361 | 101,988 | 111,123 | 124,719 | 129,290 | Yield (t/ha) | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.1 | Production (t) | 493,756 | 427,597 | 486,741 | 474,595 | 574,357 | 527,014 | Rice imports (t) | 12,455 | 41,000 | 47,900 | 66,000 | 82,100 | na | Others | Population, total (x103) | 6,376 | 7,110 | 7,823 | 8,232 | 8,364 | na | Population, agriculture (x103) | 1,907 | 1,866 | 1,686 | 1,576 | 1,540 | na | Agricultural area (x103 ha) | 3,522 | 3,590 | 3,609 | 3,639 | na | na | Irrigated agricultural area (x103 ha) | 198 | 225 | 259 | 259 | na | na | Total fertilizer consumption (t) | 61,000 | 88,790 | 94,000 | 95,500 | na | na | Tractors used in agric. (no.) | 2,250 | 2,330 | 2,350 | 2,350 | na | na | Source: FAOSTAT online database. | Click here for a pdf of this information
|
