The annual sugar campaign has barely begun in Cuba and already has a deficit compared to what is projected by the authorities. The official data, collected by September 5, they throw that the sowing of cane barely 60% fulfilled: about 2,770 hectares less than planned in spring.
The reasons, according to statements by Ricardo Placeres Parodi, an AzCuba official in Cienfuegos, to the official newspaper, were “the rains in the month of June, together with the deficit of diesel oil for the mechanization to be used in the preparation of the land.”
The note also urges Cienfuegos to reach a planting rate of 120 hectares per day by July 26, “to honor the 69th anniversary of the assaults on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks.” They point out, yes, “as long as the weather conditions allow it and the fuel is guaranteed.”
None of the five plants in the province achieved the sowing forecast, continues September 5, although of them the 14 de Julio factory reached 73% and the Antonio Sánchez, close to 70%.
“They have the workforce, the agricultural equipment and quality seed”, but they have a limitation: “the lack of herbicides, at a time when weeds proliferate”
Despite this, Placeres Parodi assured that they have not given up the goal of planting the 11,400 hectares promised by 2022. AzCuba says that for the second half of the year, in Cienfuegos “they have the workforce, agricultural equipment and quality seed “, but they have a limitation: “the lack of herbicides, at a time when weeds proliferate due to rainfall and heat.”
On June 25, President Miguel Díaz-Canel himself appealed to the producers sugar mills to “save” the sector, which last year only produced 52% projected, because “it represents culture and history for this country”.
Of the 36 mills that participated in the harvest, which ended on May 20, only three fulfilled their production plan, and the harvest closed below half a million tons, far from the 911,000 planned and even further from the 1,200. 000 tons of the previous harvest, which was already considered one of the worst in history.
Shortly after, AzCuba also had to announce that it would not be able to comply with the “international commitments” sugar export.
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