Jenniffer González Discusses With Federal Agriculture The Claims Of The Sector In Puerto Rico

Press Release

Last Monday, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón met with a large group of farmers from the southern area of ​​Santa Isabel together with representatives of state and federal agencies and as part of the follow-up to the requests of farmers and ranchers, discussed with the undersecretary of Agricultural Production and Conservation of the federal Department of Agriculture (USDA) Robert Bonnie, the needs of the agricultural sector on the Island, including more personnel on the island to work on applications for disaster assistance, assistance in collecting data and access to aid programs.

Deputy Secretary Bonnie oversees agricultural disaster programs as well as crop insurance programs and related disaster efforts. The commissioner presented the situation of Puerto Rico in relation to agriculture, with the information provided by the farmers and ranchers themselves, as well as the Farmers' Association, those discussed with the state Secretary of Agriculture, as well as the federal agencies with a presence in the island.

Basically, the most affected within the industry include coffee, bananas, bananas, hydroponics, grains, livestock (dairy and meat), fishing and root crops, with preliminary estimates of losses hovering around $100 million.

One of the programs created after María was the Dairy Industry Assistance Program in Puerto Rico, also known as DAP-PR. This program was very well received by dairy farmers, so its reauthorization could mitigate some of the problems with food procurement until production is normalized, electricity is restored, and farmers are less dependent on the availability of diesel. The congresswoman requested to reactivate this program or some other that fulfills the same purpose.

Another USDA program that was used after Hurricane Maria and was very successful was the Wildfire and Hurricane Compensation Program, known as WHIP, now known as the Emergency Relief Program (ERP). This program is activated in Congress and could be considered for inclusion in a funding measure known as "supplemental" due to the natural disturbances that have recently affected the nation including Hurricane Ian.

The commissioner requested that if this happens, the application process can begin immediately. In the same way, if USDA decides to design another program for this same purpose, the particularities of the agricultural sector in Puerto Rico must be considered. As an example, most crops are called specialty crops, and it would be beneficial to ensure that these are eligible for disaster assistance.

According to the agricultural sector itself, some compared the damage to that suffered after Hurricane Maria in 2017 with that suffered by Fiona, despite being a lower category storm. So the congresswoman insisted on acquiring additional staff as soon as possible, to speed up data collection by agencies and help applicants fill out claims.

"Many farmers and growers need the help of FSA (Farm Service Administration) agents to complete their applications, and this is important because these agents are the experts on the FSA programs and will prevent mistakes from being made during the process. that may affect farmers," the congresswoman told the undersecretary.

In addition, he asked that any exemption or extension request submitted by the state FSA office or the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture be considered, since the shortage of electricity and water could affect the amount of time it takes Farmers submit their applications to USDA.

Earlier, the commissioner attended the first White House conference on Famine, Nutrition and Health in 50 years to which she was invited by President Biden. The congresswoman stressed that the topics of the conference are pillars in her legislative agenda, especially after the hurricanes, such as additional funds for the PAN, the transition from the PAN to the SNAP, support for the WIC, recovery of agriculture, and strengthening our health system. through more funding for Medicaid and 330 centers.

At the event, the President unveiled a national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030, which he said includes $8 billion in public and private sector commitments.

Under the heading of improving food access and affordability, he mentioned that the UnidosUS organization is committed to doubling the scope of its Comprando Rico y Sano (Buying Healthy and Flavorful Foods) program by 2030, which works to reduce insecurity food among Latin Americans. To do this, UnidosUS will expand the program to an additional 25 community-based organizations in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The congresswoman also demanded in the Chamber of the House of Representatives that the needs of Puerto Rico be met in the face of the impact of Hurricane Fiona, which delayed reconstruction work.

The congresswoman also demanded in the Chamber of the House of Representatives attention to the needs of Puerto Rico in the face of the impact of Hurricane Fiona, which may have delayed the work already started on the reconstruction of Hurricane Maria. "Housing and transportation works carried out after the last disaster, some even just finished, now must be attended to again," he said, adding other challenges facing the island such as an unreliable electrical system, the slowness in restoring water, losses in agriculture, challenges in the financing of federal programs such as Medicaid and nutritional assistance, among others.

"I have established communication with the President and with many agencies, on these and other issues, to seek the support that Puerto Rico needs at this time. Members of this House are traveling to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, and I again invite all my colleagues who would like to join them in seeing the need firsthand and hearing from those who can tell you what is really going on. Today we see Florida also facing a great disaster, and knowing firsthand what that means, I keep the people of that state in my heart…I am sure that both Florida and Puerto Rico will recover from these disasters and, as American citizens, we must all be united, in a bipartisan way, to make sure that the reconstruction is carried out in a visible and fast way", concluded the congresswoman.

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