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GIEWS Country Brief: Dominican Republic 30-September-2022

Countries
Dominican Rep.
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FAO
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FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

  • Paddy output in 2022 forecast at near‑average level

  • Cereal import requirements in 2022/23 marketing year forecast at slightly above‑average levels

  • Prices of staple food higher than year earlier level in August 2022

Paddy output in 2022 forecast at near‑average level

Harvesting of the 2022 second season paddy crop, which accounts for about half of the annual production, is ongoing. Planted area, predominantly irrigated, is officially estimated at a below‑average level, due to soil moisture deficits at planting time, between May and July. Dryness also affected crop conditions in the key producing northwestern and central regions (red areas in NDVI Anomaly map). Crop conditions are near average in other key producing northeastern areas. Tropical storm Fiona, of Category 1, made landfall in the eastern region on 19 September 2022 and brought torrential rains and strong winds. While assessments of its impact on agricultural production are ongoing, it may not reduce paddy production at the national level, as the eastern region is a minor rice producer.

Production of the 2022 first season paddy crop, harvested in the second quarter of the year, is officially estimated at 600 000 tonnes, more than 15 percent higher than the five‑year average due to excellent yields. Overall, the aggregate 2022 paddy output is preliminarily forecast at an average level.

Cereal import requirements in 2022/23 marketing year forecast at slightly above‑average levels

Cereal import requirements in the 2022/23 marketing year (July/June) are forecast at 2.1 million tonnes, slightly above the five‑year average. Despite the high international cereal prices, the anticipated requirements are due to the strong demand for wheat for human consumption, reflecting the increasing population, and for yellow maize by the domestic feed industry.

Prices of staple food higher than year earlier level in August 2022

Retail prices of rice have been generally stable during the first eight months of the year as markets are adequately supplied by the above‑average production in 2021 and the first half of 2022. As of August 2022, prices were about 5 percent above their levels a year earlier on account of elevated production and transportation costs. Prices of black beans were also slightly higher year on year in August. Regarding yellow maize, which the country heavily depends on imports to satisfy its consumption requirements, domestic prices declined in July and August, reflecting recent weakening of international prices. However, prices in August were still 45 percent above their year‑earlier values, after increasing sharply during the first quarter of 2022 supported by the upsurge in international prices. Prices of food items were generally high, with the annual food inflation rate at 12.3 percent in July 2022.

In order to contain the price increases, the government eliminated the import tariffs on 67 staple food items in April 2022 for a period of six months. The items with zero tariff include, meat (beef, pork and chicken), maize and wheat flour, beans, vegetable oil, pasta and powdered milk. In addition, the government has subsidized prices of gasoline and diesel by approximately USD 1.5/gallon in 2022 as well as imports of maize, wheat and soybeans with a total budget of DOP 3 000 million (about USD 56 million). A series of measures are also adopted to boost rice production, including the increase of zero interest on agricultural credits by the Agricultural Bank for DOP 10 500 million (about USD 200 million) and the provision of direct subsidies to producers for the purchase of certified seeds (DOP 500, about USD 9.3/producer) and for sales of 120-kg bag of rice (DOP 100, about USD 1.9).