The government plans to create, using the 2014/2015 harvest, a strategic reserve of beans to try to influence the market during the season of high prices.
The proposal which emerged under the Funes administration but never came to fruition could be implemented in the next season, as announced by the Ministry of Agriculture.
"The ministry does not need a law to establish a strategic reserve of beans.
Salvadoran farmers are projecting a harvest of between 17 and 17.5 million quintals of corn.
The president of the Agricultural Suppliers Association (APA), Oscar Albanez, said they have the required factors for a very good harvest, "Winter in May was better than average. That was very good because it made the soil moist. On the other side, raw materials for producers have been stored up, both fertilizer and agrochemicals as well as seeds", he said according to Elsalvador.com.
The Ministry of Agriculture will provide $11 million to compensate for losses caused by the excessive rains.
Hugo Flores, deputy minister, explained that the money will go towards replanting, renovating at-risk areas, and supporting the aquaculture sector, among other schemes.
The measure seeks to prevent a shortage of basic grains in 2012, and will be complemented by the duty-free import of 50,000 tons of white maize and 25,000 of red beans.
Despite forecasts by the Ministry of Agriculture, the union has warned that the harvest scheduled for later this year will be insufficient.
Oscar Albanez, president of the Agricultural Suppliers Association (APA), told the press that "the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) has said that bean production will amount to 2.6 million quintals and our forecast is around 1.9 million."
The competition to secure supplies of beans has led Salvadoran importers to buy in advance Honduras’ harvest.
An article in the Honduran news portal El Heraldo reports statements by Luis Donaire, from the agricultural union PROGRANO, "Producers have turned again to El Salvador for funding. Some have planted by their own efforts, but between 25% and 30% have used Salvadoran funds"
Up to 30% of the first harvest of beans in Honduras was funded in El Salvador.
Luis Donaire, president of PROGRANO, commented that the producers are returning to get financing from El Salvador, a situation attributed to lack of funding from the Honduran government institutions such as the National Bank for Agricultural Development.
This harvest is expected to yield about 600,000 quintals, or 30% of domestic demand.