Puerto Rico finds growth in agriculture

(28 Sep 2016) Puerto Rico is going through something of an agricultural renaissance as new farms spring up across the island, supplying an increasing number of farmers' markets and restaurants demanding fresher produce. Agriculture has become one of the few areas of growth on an island struggling to emerge from a 10-year recession and a still-unfolding debt crisis. The most recent statistics from the governor's office show farm income grew 25 percent to more than $900 million from 2012-2014 while the amount of acreage under cultivation rose 50 percent over the past four years, generating at least 7,000 jobs. 25-year-old farmer Jonathan Rodriguez said " there's more work for young people now. Young and old. (Agriculture) has developed greatly again." Agriculture is a small part of the economy in Puerto Rico, well behind manufacturing, finance and tourism. But the growth is notable simply because things are so bad overall. The agricultural rebirth can be seen in the aisles of supermarkets, where local rice went on sale in August for the first time since the last producer closed in 1989, and in the shimmering green fields where the grain is grown on the outskirts of the southwestern town of Guanica. The initiatives come from private and government efforts to reduce Puerto Rico's reliance on expensive food imports and spur the growth of a sector that dominated the economy until the 1940s, when the territory began a decades-long transformation into a more urban, developed society where few wanted to work on a farm. Tara Rodriguez Besosa, a farming advocate and owner of an organic restaurant, said from San Juan that the island faces "many issues." In addition to the many small, independent farms, the island has been seeing investment in large-scale agriculture, and even marijuana growers are looking to set up shop. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/75c26e21ae626979f9213b389df781dd Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork