In an article published in El País on October 28, 1890, Fermín Valdés Domínguez, a close friend of Cuba’s National Hero José Martí and back then a doctor in the town of Baracoa, describes the visit of Dr. Carlos de la Torre y Huerta to the city in September of that year.
The item was about the study of sick coconut trees in the municipality of Duaba in the province of Guantánamo, the reason that the renowned Cuban archeologist and naturalist traveled from Havana to the then more isolated than ever First Village of the Island.
This is considered an early reference to the close bond between Duaba and the said crop, for which Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has urgently requested production linkages for the good of the country’s economy.
The coconut palm is the most widespread plant in the world and the main source of vegetable fat, as highly demanded in the soap and perfume industry as its meat is by manufacturers of canned foods and drinks.
Also known as the Tree of 100 Uses and the Tree of Life, the coconut palm—found on every shoreline and tropical island in Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Central America and Africa—is deemed to be more versatile than the nimtree and bamboo on account of its ornamental and nutritional benefits.
Baracoa expects to see a remarkable rise in coconut production in the coming years with the planting of hundreds of hectares and the implementation of technological improvements ever since Hurricane Matthew destroyed the local coconut, cocoa and coffee plantations in October 2016.
Despite the said weather event and today’s persistent drought in this Cuban municipality, the agricultural authorities will not waver in their endeavor.