Cuba's agriculture production declines

Cuba's agriculture production declines

2013-05-24 13:34:14



The Cuban government says it has seen a dramatic and unexplained drop in

the harvest of vegetables and fruit in the first three months of the year.



In a report, the Cuban National Statistics Office gave no reason for the

production decline, despite government reforms to increase production in

the Spanish-speaking country that spends more than US$1.5 billion on

food imports.



The office said overall agricultural production with the exception of

sugarcane, declined by 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of this year

compared to the first three months of 2012.



Cuban President Raúl Castro, had initiated a campaign to heighten

domestic food production, by leasing fallow state lands to private

farmers, hiking the prices that the government pays for agricultural

goods and easing state controls on the distribution networks.



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