Although the figures are preliminary, the Ministry of Agriculture (Minagri) reported that Hurricane Irma, after passing through the national territory, caused severe damage to livestock facilities, windmills, crops and livestock.
Fernando Velazco Betancourt, head of the command post of Minagri, told ACN that among the damages are the loss of more than 71 thousand hens, as well as damages in the poultry houses, mainly in the provinces of Camagüey, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Ávila and Matanzas.
Faced with such a situation, he said that they are working on blanketing the roofs of these facilities and prioritizing the feeding and water of the animals, while the maintenance and repair brigades of the less affected territories were activated.
He also stated that they workshops, feed mills, dairy farms, rearing centers, as well as farming houses, nurseries and stonecutters suffered deterioration.
According to Velazco Betancourt, around five thousand hectares (ha) of vegetables and fruits were damaged; of them 4,188 correspond to banana plantations.
On this last product, he added that everything in optimal state will be distributed to the population and the rest to animal consumption, and work is done to recover those plantations.
In addition, he said that the company of La Cuba, in Ciego de Avila, lost about 1,800 ha of banana plantations and that there are some 900 tons that will be commercialized in town and another part will be destined to the tourism sector in Havana, Camagüey and Varadero.
Regarding tobacco cultivation, the director assured that several seedlings of the companies of Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Holguin showed affectations, as well as factories and warehouses. (Taken from Cuban News Agency)
