The Honduran government on Friday declared a state of emergency for the agriculture sector against possible impacts of the climate phenomenon El Nino, and ordered the adoption of measures to avoid a possible lack of basic grains.

The Honduran Council of Ministers assigned 600,000 U.S. dollars to aid 7,000 agriculture producers in the country, in order to get the harvest of 20,000 tons of beans, to cover the demand of July and August.

Honduran Agriculture and Livestock Minister, Jacobo Regalado, said that they had set the goal of producing 20,000 tons of beans in 2010.

Regalado added that the harvest should be ready before the raining season, the last days of May, and the beans will be commercialized between June and July.

Meanwhile, Honduran Vice President Samuel Reyes, also Agriculture sector coordinator, said that the "El Nino climate phenomenon is affecting some beans and other grains harvests, and it will impact the supply. The emergency declaration aims to avoid such a problem."

The goal is guarantee market supply and avoid runaway increase of basic grain prices, Reyes added.