Three young farmers take the challenges of the industry to the cinema with the documentary “They will be the owners of the land”

While much of the best land in Puerto Rico is occupied by companies dedicated to experimentation with transgenic -genetically modified foods-, Puerto Rican farmers They fight to rescue available agricultural land in order to boost production for local consumption.

However, there are many challenges and disadvantages along the way.

The documentary “They will be the owners of the land”, to be released in theaters on July 14, shows in three years the lives of Stephanie Rodriguez, Ian Pagán and Alfredo Aponte— three young farmers who with their efforts seek to live from agricultural work taking care of the land and the people.

“They will be the owners of the land” will be projected in theaters in Caribbean Cinemas from Plaza Las Américas, Plaza del Sol, Barceloneta, Ponce, Mayagüez, Fajardo, Las Piedras, Las Catalinas, Plaza Carolina and Plaza Guaynabo.

After the dream of food sovereignty

The film, directed by JuanMa Pagán Teitelbaum and produced by Mariolga Reyes Cruz, presents the vicissitudes of Rodríguez, Pagán and Aponte to maintain the land leased to them by the Puerto Rico Land Authority (TA) and the difficulties faced by the farmers who, with scarce economic resources, do the impossible to produce food for the country.

But what about the Land Authority? Is it a facilitating entity in the process or is it another stone on the road? Through the stories, the development of various problems that leads to questioning this is shown.

“We want to convey, so people can see, that the most important work in society is agriculture,” said Reyes Cruz, writer and producer of the film.

“They are going to be amazed (the audience). You will be amazed at the tenacity of these farmers and the challenges they are facing,” he added.

The director, for his part, said he felt excited about the premiere.

“I’m excited to release the documentary and for people to see, to feel what it means to dedicate yourself to agriculture,” he said.

“It will be seen that the people who start working in agriculture give everything,” he said.

Government… ally or enemy?

An agricultural project can begin with the lease of land through the Land Authority, a division of the Agriculture department, which will determine the number of cuerdas that must be granted for agricultural production. Enabling the leased land falls to the new farmer, or “custodian” of the TA land.

In 2020, the then Secretary of Agriculture -Carlos Flores- told the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) that the unit had 85,797.72 cuerdas of land, of which 5,439.89 were left for lease. According to the report, these farms do not have the basic infrastructure to start.

The feature film is presented at a time when the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Ramón González Beiró, announces the possible shortage of widespread consumer products in the near future and the importance of adjusting the diet to the products that can be produced in Puerto Rico . Meanwhile, Puerto Rico continues to import 85% of what it consumes and a third of the population suffers from food insecurity.

Food security is defined as the availability at all times of sufficient basic foods to sustain the constant increase in consumption, as outlined in the 2015 report Food Security in Puerto Rico, produced by the Institute of Statistics.