Reuters
By Marc Frank Marc Frank – Tue Aug 3, 2:43 pm ET
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba's food production fell 7.5 percent in the first
half of the year despite reforms instituted by President Raul Castro and
even as the Communist-run country cut food imports, the government
reported this week.
The report was not a surprise to Cuban consumers who have complained of
shortages all year, particularly in staples such as rice and beans,
which were down 1.7 percent and 27 percent, respectively.
The National Statistics Office reported on its web page www.one.cu that,
from January through June, there was a decline in just about all types
of food production -- from rice, potatoes, malanga and other vegetables
to pork and eggs.
Production of a few items rose, including yucca, milk, non-citrus fruits
and bananas.
The government has repeatedly said it would begin cutting food imports
this year, though no data was available. Vietnam, the island's main rice
supplier, announced when the year began that Cuba had reduced orders by
100,000 tons for 2010.
Overall agriculture production is below 2005 levels, according to the
government, even though Castro has made increasing food output a
priority since taking over for older brother Fidel Castro more than two
years ago.
Cuba is in the throes of a financial crisis in part because it spends
heavily to import two-thirds of its food.
"It is not easy to find root vegetables and rice is scarce, making
matters worse, especially at the end of the month when the ration is
used up," Margarita, a retiree who did not want her full name used, said
in a telephone interview from eastern Holguin province.
Santiago de Cuba housewife Olga Machado said things were not much better
in Cuba's second largest city.
"The biggest problem is that everything seems to come and go, forcing
you to dedicate a great deal of time to guarantee there is food at
home," she said.
BARE-BONES BASICS
Sugar production was not included in the report but this year's sugar
harvest was the worst in more than a century, resulting in a 20 percent
cut in the rationed sugar quota of five pounds per month.
The country maintains a World War Two-style food ration that provides
the bare-bones basics for a few weeks, after which residents must shop
at state-run markets.
President Castro has raised prices the state pays for produce, leased
state lands to farmers, decentralized decision making, allowed
provincial producers to sell more of their produce directly to consumers
and reorganized huge state farms and cooperatives that occupy 60 percent
of the land.
However, a decades-old system where the state provides fuel, pesticides,
fertilizer and other resources to farmers in exchange for 70 percent of
what they produce remains unchanged and often holds back production.
In a speech on Sunday to the National Assembly, Castro blamed
administrative errors and a continuing drought for the production
shortfalls. He ruled out market solutions as being too capitalist.
Many farmers and farm experts think Castro will have to make bigger
changes if he wants more food production.
"Until the state frees up farmers to own outright the land, sell
directly what they produce and purchase what they need to do it,
production will not significantly improve," said a local agriculture
expert, asking his name not be used.
(Editing by Jeff Franks and Bill Trott)
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