14ymedio, Madrid, 1 December 2023 — After the “small but more efficient” harvest of 2023, a new edition will begin next week, which will be “superior to the previous one.” This is how Julio García Pérez, director of Azcuba, defined the production scheduled for 2024 this Thursday on the Cuban State Television program Mesa Redonda [Round Table], in the face of the skepticism of a population already accustomed to the collapse of the results year after year.
This year the sugarcane will be ground in 25 sugar mills. Twenty-three of them begin in December, and the other two will be added later, since “the boiler pipes have not yet arrived in Cuba. They are financed, but the funds are held in a bank, subject to agency inspections, due to the restrictions of the blockade,” said García Pérez, who did not dare to offer an official forecast of the number of tons projected for this year.
Although “the blockade” was among the reasons cited as “external” by the manager, there was a list of internal culprits this time. Excessive burning of cane, sugar quality problems, poor business management – “under the same conditions, some companies and cooperatives maintain acceptable production levels and others decrease” – and the lack of control over crime were the causes accepted as their own by the state monopoly.
García Pérez assumed, as it could not be otherwise, the failure of last year, with a shortcoming of 30,000 tons of the forecasts
García Pérez assumed, as it could not be otherwise, the failure of last year, with a shortcoming of 30,000 tons of the forecasts, so that it was also not possible to cover exports, “affecting very serious commitments,” he stressed, nor to provide energy to the National Electricity System. In addition, the departure of workers to the private sector or from the country reduced the workforce by 10%.
The manager also referred to two serious problems that affect production: illegalities, which will be tackled with more video surveillance, and the land, of which only 60% of the 579 square miles destined for cane is sown, the rest lying fallow due to soil pre