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Within the framework of the "Aló Presidente" number 302, this Sunday, President Hugo Chavez toured the newborn Agroindustrial District Caicara De Maturin, capital of the Cedeño municipality of the Monagas state, which produces tomatoes and beans that are processed and packaged at two plants near the places of cultivation.
During his visit, in which he interacted with producers in the field and workers in the processing plants, the national agent stressed that the national consumption of the food basket per person per year has met a positive change in recent years: "In 1998 a person consumed 168 kilograms of food per year, a person now consumes 188 kilograms per year. These figures reflect the recovery of alimentation. In here we passed through much hunger, and we still have problems with some products, but there will come a time when we will export to other countries ".
He visited the processing plant of tomato pulp that was expropriated from a private company. Today it is renewed and has the capacity to process 660 thousand pounds a day. It is operational since four months ago and produces tomato sauce and paste. In this area of the country can be had a yearly two or three tomatoes harvests. The first one of this year will begin in two months.
During the trip he took to the grains packing house, he reported that in 2007 Venezuela produced 20 thousand 300 tons of beans, namely it doubled the production of 2006 which was approximately of 10 thousand 700 tons.
"We consume more than 100 thousand tons of beans a year, and we are importing 90 per cent, although we can produce this amount and more. The goal this year is to reach 36 thousand tons," he explained.
The installed yearly capacity of this packaging plant is of 9.792 tons between black beans, beans, lentils and peas. Here will be processed the 48.23 percent of the national production of beans. The products will be placed in Mercal, popular fairs and farmers markets. Among the incentives for the producers, he mentioned that for every kilogram of black beans that they bring will be deducted 600 bolivars of the credits they received.
This is one of the five socialist production units of grain packing, the remaining are in Apure, Portuguesa, Yaracuy and Guarico. In short, it will have a processing capacity of 63,660 tons per year.
He also explored the Silo Colonel Leonardo Infante, which has an installed capacity of 40 thousand tons for storing sorghum, yellow and white corn. During the tour he talked with workers in the field and the processing plants on the importance for a country to produce food, the conditions under which the country was and where it should go: the raising of agricultural production.
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