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In one year, less than 10,000 hectares of informally planted bananas and plantains were legalized
Posted On 07 Sep 2021
When the process of regularization of banana and plantain crops started last year, the authorities sought to confirm the hectares planted. The idea was that with this data it is possible to order and improve the marketing conditions of this market.
In one year, less than 10,000 hectares of informally planted bananas and plantains were legalized
Previous calculations for banana sectors indicated that in the country there could be between 35,000 and 40,000 hectares planted informally, that is, they were not registered and registered with the Ministry of Agriculture.
One year after that process, the ministry’s figures show that they have regularized 6,580.08 hectares. That would mean that a significant herctarage still remains without entering the official records.
Last year, prior to the regularization process, it was estimated that 176,000 hectares were formally registered in Guayas, Los Ríos, El Oro, Cotopaxi, Manabí, Esmeraldas and other provinces.
By decree, the current government decided to extend the deadline for farm owners to formally register their properties with the Ministry of Agriculture for one more year. The initial term expired in August.
This decree provides that the registration and registration of this type of plantations may be requested from the Ministry of Agriculture for one year from the publication of the reform in the Official Registry, thus extending the time for these registrations, which must be carried out in accordance with to what is established in article 8 of this law.
Farm owners must pay $ 600 for each hectare in order to legalize their farms. For that they must fill out the registration and registration application, present an updated RUC, certificate of encumbrances and domain history for the current year, map with georeferenced coordinates of the property, among other requirements.
Producers with family farms report that the value of the fine continues to be one of the impediments to being able to comply with the registration and legalize their situation.
Franklin Torres, president of the National Federation of Banana Producers of Ecuador, indicated that legal advice and facilities are needed so that producers can access a financing mechanism or deferral of these fines.
The leader asserted that part of those hectares are familiar and have been in operation for years, but they are not registered because they have passed on to new generations and their owners have not made changes. “In order to legalize small producers, the ministry had to provide legal and economic assistance,” Torres said. (I)
