Cargando...Agricultural production does not meet the demand and there are several points that are important in this area. In the Isle of Youth, programs are developed that contribute to feeding the population, such as the Municipal Self-Sufficiency Plan.
This strategy consists of guaranteeing, on a monthly basis, for each person, food, vegetables, fruits and grains, taking into account the current global crisis in the world, with its respective changes in the prices of products on the international market, the increase in interest rates, as well as the tightening of the U.S. blockade against Cuba, all of which have an impact on the Cuban economy.
This scenario forces the Pineros to rethink strategies to make it efficient and sustainable, in addition to seeing the results at the table and saving the country millions of dollars in food imports.
Everyone’s Problem
What is our role in this mission? We all have to do our part and not wait for fairy godmothers with magic wands to transform the fields of the Pineros without thinking that we will only achieve agricultural development through self-sufficiency.
This will be achieved through higher productivity and yield per square meter, use of unproductive, idle or underutilized spaces, unused flower beds and organoponics, efficient use of water and renewable energy sources, among others, if we are to achieve food and nutrition sovereignty of the population.
Considering these urgencies, for this year’s spring campaign it was planned to plant 4001.46 ha of vegetables, namely sweet potato, malanga, cassava, organic potato and plantain. While vegetables: 973.31 ha; cereals: 1,128.5 ha and fruit trees: 168.93 ha.
To date, 4,146.34 acres have been planted out of a plan of 3,943.04 acres, for a compliance rate of 105 percent.
With the cultivation of cereals: beans and rice, there is the same strategy per month. Of the former, 795.0 hectares were planted, based on the existing seed deficit, a matter already resolved to support the technical and economic plan.
In rice cultivation for the 2024-2025 cold season, the territory proposes to grow by 230 ha, taking into account the investments in the Mella Pole, the La 52 dam, La Jagua and in the C – 100, achieving a double rotation planting of 750.0 ha, for a total of 1,200 ha in 2025.
The same is true for cattle, whose herd decreased by 1,903 head compared to the previous year, either due to theft and slaughter, shortages and deaths detected in the exercise of land and cattle herd control, which resulted in 6,521 violations and 278 fines amounting to 4.5 million pesos.
The Union Speaks
The issue of local self-sufficiency is a permanent item in the meetings of the Municipal Secretariat of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) of the island, a force that forms ranks in any mobilization of the agricultural sector.
«As a work system, we have maintained throughout the year the union mobilizations for food production on different fronts, because we are aware that the country faces limitations to ensure food security for the population and needs sustainable domestic food production to reduce dependence on imports,» explains Yusmary Olivera Pupo, General Secretary of the CTC on the Isle of Youth.
«In the framework of the Organic Process 22 Congress, she continued, and as part of the popular movement Sentir Pinero, we have played a leading role in contributions to urban and suburban agriculture, whether in self-consumption and organoponic, gardens and plots for companies, thus contributing to the variety of food in the workers’ canteens, as well as improving the food of workers and their families.
«Thinking about sustainable agri-food systems is not a short-term goal, nor does it depend exclusively on the will and conditions of the territory; a style of work has been established that seeks to advance in food production based on local potential, that is, creating our technology and productive inputs here.
«The unions will not turn our backs on such an effort to achieve self-sufficiency, especially if the U.S. government’s blockade intensifies, which we will overcome with independence and food sovereignty.
«In any trade union debate, we must insist on how many millions of dollars Cuba spends on food for its people, so replacing these imports is strategic,» the union leader concluded.
