Urgent measures needed to boost agriculture

Urgent measures needed to boost agriculture
Ray Sanchez | Direct from Havana
7:40 AM EDT, May 14, 2008
Havana

Cuban agricultural authorities acknowledged the need for a major
overhaul of food production on the island, the state press reported
Wednesday.

Alcides Lopez, viceminister for agriculture, told a National Assembly
commission studying the issue that inefficiency and other problems
plaguing Cuban agriculture required urgent measures.

"We're talking about organizing production," he said.

Cuba's new government has initiated a series of reforms aimed at
increasing food production, including granting local agricultural
authorities greater power to decide what and how much to raise.

Members of the National Assembly commission pressed officials for
details on the extent of the autonomy of municipal delegations taking
over the decision-making process, the daily Juventud Rebelbe reported
Wednesday.

Agricultural official Maria del Carmen Perez said all transactions would
be handled at the local level at one single location rather than at
various departments.

Officials also spoke in favor of greater financial incentives for food
producers.

With food imports rising to almost $2 billion in 2007 and Cubans
complaining about soaring prices, Raul Castro has put agriculture at the
top of his agenda since taking over from his ailing older brother Fidel
in February.

Cuban yields for most produce and livestock are below average for the
Caribbean and Central America. The state admits that about 50 percent of
arable land is underutilized or fallow.

Cuban farmers have complained that state-run system is cumbersome and
inefficient, leaving crops to rot and farmers without timely supplies.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-0514havanadaily,0,1669714.column