ARTEMISA, Cuba, Jan 26 (ACN) Land dedicated to sugar cane in the north of the province of Artemisa, long covered with weeds after years of neglect, began to be recovered about three years ago and are already contributing to municipal self-sufficiency.
Rodolfo Suárez Dupotey, a 20-year resident of the area and member of a local Agricultural Production Cooperative (CPA), told ACN of his efforts, together with two friends, to sow eight hectares (ha) of garden and root vegetables in fields of the provincial agricultural development park, a cluster of 17 farms engaged in the cultivation of various crops—in response to the measures designed to strengthen the socialist state enterprises—which has successfully met people’s demand for a number of crops.
José Ignacio Roque Porra, another CPA president, pointed out that 15 ha of land left idle were recovered in 2020, whereas the figure rose to 56 in 2021. In December, he remarked, his CPA received from the Banca de Fomento Agrícola (agricultural development bank) a credit of 1.3 million pesos to grow another 30 ha this year.
In 2019, the province of Artemisa’s agricultural and livestock enterprise Habana Libre produced 7,200 tons of food in 2020 and 8,300 in 2021 thanks to its farmer-oriented system, a proper land preparation, the use of quality seeds, respect for the seasonal sowing program, and its level of technological discipline.
