Private agricultural investments approved by the Agricultural Investment Promotion Agency (APIA) edged up to 767 investment operations worth 130.7 MD in the first quarter of 2022 (Q1), against 753 investment operations worth 80.3 MD during the same period in 2021, thereby posting a 49.7% increase in value, APIA said on Saturday.
Compared to the 2016-2020 development plan, private agricultural investments fell by 31.4% in number and 21.6% in value.
These investments are expected to generate 684 permanent jobs, compared to 741 in the same period in 2021.
The investments in poultry farming showed a notable growth to the value of 38.6 MD against 4.3 MD during the same period in 2021.
Investments in the benthic trawl fishing activity reached 1.4 MD compared to 0.1 MD in the same period in 2021.
Investments in the aquaculture sector grew to account for 6% of the total volume approved, whereas they did not exceed 1% before.
As for the fish farming activity in floating cages, the investments stood at 5.8 MD.
The approved investments in the water and soil conservation activities increased by 78.7%.
Oil mills account for about one third of approved investments in the primary processing sector.
The APIA also specified that the approved investments received subsidies worth 35.8 MD, accounting for 27.4% of the approved investment volume against 29.7 MD in the same period of the previous year.
The subsidy for the acquisition of agricultural equipment amounted to 11.5 MD, that is 32.1% of the total approved subsidies.
The rate of credits stabilized, while the rate of subsidies decreased to 27.4%, against 34% during the same period in 2021.
The benefit committees approved 7 land loans worth 1 MD against 9 loans worth 1.5 MD during the same period of 2021. These loans will allow the integration of 64 hectares of land into the economic cycle compared to 113 in Q1 2021.
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