(EFE).- The year 2021 was one of the worst for the Cuban countryside in the last decade, Ydael Pérez Brito, Minister of Agriculture, affirmed this Monday in statements collected by the official media Cubadebate. Pérez made this statement in the framework of the presentation of the annual report of his ministry to take stock of the sector during 2021.
The crisis in the field has been seen with special concern in strategic areas such as sugar and tobacco, both with a performance below expectations, he said.
The state-owned sugar company Azcuba assured that in 2021 only 69.4% of the area planned for sugar production was planted, a figure that it described as “one of the worst in history.”
The minister attributed the situation to “the tightening of the blockade, the pandemic, the economic crisis and the implementation of the monetary system.” The head of Agriculture also pointed out the lack of legal advice in agricultural cooperatives as a reason: “Of the 4,540 existing in the country, 1,307 do not have advice, which represents 29%.”
The state-owned sugar company Azcuba assured that in 2021 only 69.4% of the area planned for sugar production was planted, a figure that it described as “one of the worst in history.”
Similarly, the Island reduced the tobacco planting area in December by 10% in the 2021-2022 campaign due to lack of fertilizers and other inputs necessary for the cultivation of this plant, the main agricultural export.
According to the balance of Agriculture, 180 companies closed the year with losses of over 9,000 million pesos (about 90 million dollars at the official exchange).
The Minister of Agriculture recognized that the planned volumes were not reached in 32 of the 37 production plans.
Pérez Brito also said that, at the end of February, there were six exportable products that did not meet the projections: industrial beef, industrial tomato, twisted tobacco for export, rice and honey.
On March 4, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) of the United Nations launched, together with the Government, a project to increase the production of coffee and cocoa.
At the end of February, there were six exportable products that did not meet the projections: industrial beef, industrial tomato, twisted tobacco for export, rice and honey.
The Island imports between 60% and 70% of the food it consumes and blames the US embargo for making importing products an increasingly complicated task, despite the fact that it brings a large amount of food from that country.
To deal with this problem, Cuba presented its food sovereignty bill on February 26, which aims to increase agricultural production and reduce its dependence on imports.
Last year it also approved 63 measures to increase agricultural production at a time marked by the scarcity of some basic agricultural products.
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