Cuba Imports Rice it Could Produce

Cuba Imports Rice it Could Produce / Osmar Laffita Rojas

Posted on October 31, 2013



HAVANA, Cuba, October www.cubanet.org – Of the approximately 770,000

tons of rice consumed by the Cuban population last year*, 440,000 were

imported from Vietnam, Brazil and the United States. As a ton of rice

trades on the world market at $450, the Cuban government had to spend

$200 million for the purchase of this food.



Two years ago, rice production was going through a severe crisis in

Cuba. There were great difficulties in the harvest due to the advanced

deterioration of agricultural machinery, lack of means to transport the

grain and the total abandonment of the roads. Inability to harvest the

rice at full maturity is a source of great losses.



There were few dryers, mills, silos and warehouses, and the vast

majority were in pitiful condition, unmaintained for years. With limited

industrial capacity and storage, some provinces were forced to send the

harvested grain to other provinces that had dryers and mills for

processing, thus incurring costs for fuel, wages, etc.



This situation resulted in low yields that did not meet the needs of the

population. The deficit in rice production was offset by foreign imports.



But as of mid-2011, the Ministry of Agriculture launched an investment

and retrofitting process to reverse the situation. The state allocated

substantial resources for the purchase of agricultural machinery and

means of transporting the grain. It embarked on a process of building

new kilns, mills, silos and warehouses, while the existing facilities

are being repaired and modernized.



Similarly, it undertook the rehabilitation of irrigation channels and roads.



Take the case of the new Guama River diversion in Pinar del Rio, which,

with El Punto Dam in the town of Consolación del Sur, ensures irrigation

of the Vuelta Abajo rice plantation through a more than 12-mile system

of channels.



Since last year, the cultivation of rice in Cuba has undergone positive

changes. The provinces of Pinar del Rio, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos

reported 86,000 acres harvested in cold and spring sowings. Timely

delivery of fertilizer, herbicides, fuel, more efficient water use,

among other assurances made it possible for these three provinces to

report a production of 42,000 tons of wet rice this year, which

represents an increase of 35% relative to what was reaped by those

provinces the previous year.



In Villa Clara a mill has been built that will process 220 tons of rice

a day, and three silos were built, each with with a 1,100 ton capacity,

plus a warehouse with a capacity of 1,980 tons. With these investments,

by next year the province may end a daily transfer of 275 tons of wet

rice to Sancti Spiritus and Matanzas for industrial processing.



But not everything is going smoothly. In Los Palacios in Pinar del Rio

Province, the Air Services Company's failure to meet its commitments in

rice planting, along with the delay in the application of fertilizers,

herbicides and insecticides, caused severe damages to this year's

production. Rice production was down 43,700 tons and there was a

significant decrease in yields per acre.



The agricultural aviation executives argue that their priority is not

the rice companies, but spraying against mosquitoes in Havana, in the

tourist resorts of Cayo Coco and Cayo Largo, and in the city of Pinar

del Rio.



Osmar Laffita Rojas, ramsetgandhi@yahoo.com



*Translator's note: Roughly 140 pounds per person



Cubanet, 31 October 2013



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