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PRESS ROOM
Calendar 19/3/2024

Government with the Caribbean begins with key announcements and investment for Agrarian Reform in Córdoba

El Gobierno con el Caribe empieza con anuncios e inversión clave para la Reforma Agraria en Córdoba
From Montería, President Gustavo Petro and Minister Jhenifer Mojica announced the recovery of the infrastructure of the former Idema, where corn producers will be able to store their product.
The president and the head of the agricultural portfolio also led the delivery of productive projects for the benefit of rural populations in the Támesis, Mochalito, and Pontevedra estates.
 
Montería, (@MinAgricultura). The 'Government with the Caribbean People' began this Monday in Montería with announcements made by President Gustavo Petro and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Jhenifer Mojica. In the capital of Córdoba, the president and the head of the agricultural portfolio launched transcendental actions for Agrarian Reform in the region through the productive development of rural populations in the department.
 
At this event, held at the Almagrario warehouse, former Idema facilities - Institute of Agricultural Marketing - were returned to the peasants by the Change Government. This physical plant was recovered so that small and medium-sized producers can store their corn crops with payment in kind. In total, about 4,000 tons of this product can be stored during harvest seasons. The beneficiary populations will have a plant with an extension of 8.5 hectares.

To strengthen corn production, Minister Mojica also signed the project that will give life to the dual-purpose corn drying and corn flake factory in Ciénaga de Oro. This will have an investment of $37 billion, of which $20 billion will be allocated to the corn drying plant and the other $17 billion to the flake plant.

 

"We have come to the Caribbean to give back to the people what has always been theirs. On this occasion, the old Idema returns to the peasants with a project that will benefit especially the departments of Córdoba and Sucre to strengthen corn production, which will allow four hectares for planting, implement a payment against delivery system of the product sold, and regulate prices of the product in times of oversupply. This, together with the dual-purpose plant, will consolidate this region as an agri-food power of corn, and a pantry of this flagship and indispensable product for our nutrition," assured the minister. 
 

Productive projects in symbolic estates 

Before the Cordoban community, three Comprehensive Agricultural and Rural Development Projects (Pidares) were also delivered for a value of $10.5 billion. This will benefit 280 peasant and victims of the armed conflict families living in the Mochalito, Pontevedra, and Támesis estates, located in the municipalities of Ciénaga de Oro, Planeta Rica, and Montería respectively. 


These three initiatives have a special meaning in the National Government's Total Peace policy, as the estates where peasants will start growing corn, yucca, and rice were owned by recognized drug traffickers and paramilitaries, and returned to the State through the Victims' Reparation Fund and the Special Assets Society (SAE).


Regarding this historic delivery, President Petro stated, "Here what we are delivering is not just any nonsense. This is actually a complete change of chip around the national economy. We are not giving $5 billion to the 'tough' of the economy: we are giving $5 billion to peasant men and women to help us feed." The president added, "We are giving more land to the peasant. We have not expropriated. We said, 'We are not going to do it,' and we are fulfilling that. We are buying. We have said, 'Don't sell us all the estate, sell us half of the estate and we give you a productive credit.'" 
 

Machinery for the production and transformation of the Cordoban countryside 

Finally, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, together with the Rural Development Agency (ADR), delivered a fleet of yellow machinery valued at $3.533 billion, consisting of a crawler excavator, a wheeled backhoe, a motor grader, a vibrocompactor, and two dump trucks, aiming to improve the productivity of 46,280 hectares in the municipalities of Montería, Cereté, Ciénaga de Oro, San Pelayo, Cotorra, Lorica, and San Bernardo del Viento, in Córdoba. These elements will be made available to 5,315 rice, corn, sorghum, and cotton producers.


The president of the ADR, Luis Alberto Higuera, highlighted that these investments are vital for rural populations. "We are in the Caribbean sowing the pillars of the new Colombian countryside, because it is not only about giving land to peasants, but also accompanying them so that they mechanize production, transform their products, add value to them, and can commercialize them at fair prices," he stated.