2.5 million acres of farmland are affected by torrential rains that have been tormenting Colombia since the beginning of last year, the country’s Agriculture Minister said Saturday.
According to Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo, some 1.6 million acre of farmland is flooded and 900,000 acres are seriously affected by the wet weather. A Ministry of Agriculture report in early May stated that 500,000 acres of farmland had been left useless.
The Minister warned that because of the impact of the rains on agriculture, food prices in Colombia are expected to rise further.
To somehow diminish the damage to the country’s agriculture sector, the government has earmarked a total of $77 million in aid and subsidies for farmers, said the Minister.
The excessive rains have killed more than 450 people in 2010 and 2011 and have affected more than 2.2 million Colombians.