Cuban Agroforestry Experimental Station carries out projects for sustainable agricultural development

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Jan 22 (ACN) The Agroforestry Experimental Station, located in the municipality of Tercer Frente (eastern Cuba), develops scientific projects of international collaboration to boost sustainable agricultural development.

With the Republic of Vietnam, the scientific center coordinates sustainable technology for the development of coffee cultivation, as well as Mas Cafe III, a program for the progress of the cherry tree with the Italian country.

Ramon Ramos Navas, specialist of the center, told Cuban News Agency that the work with Vietnam was one of the most important during 2020 with the introduction of technologies associated to the management of the crop, with yields of more than two tons of arabica coffee per hectare, the main exportable item.

One of the Vietnamese techniques applied by producers is the planting of two banana plants for one coffee one, either in the plain or in the mountains, we change some processes such as increasing the size of the holes, as well as greater use of organic matter and biofertilizers to nourish depleted soils, he said.

This not only benefits coffee production, but also contributes to better banana and yucca crops, used as temporary shade, and work with short-cycle crops: beans, string beans, cucumber and okra, for the sustainability of the mountainous locality.

The project with Italian participation Mas Cafe III includes 58 cooperatives from five municipalities of Santiago de Cuba: Segundo and Tercer Frente, Guama, San Luis and Songo La Maya, all coffee producers, with a perspective of sustainability by planting in eco-fragile areas.

This program contributed to the increase in the production of Arabica coffee in 100,000 cans with respect to the 2018/2019 harvest and its quality increased to 30%, the researcher added.

In addition, the completion, maintenance and exploitation of a cocoa germplasm bank was achieved, which guarantees the production of hybrid seeds (175, 000 as an annual average) and the conservation of genetic materials, as a study material base for middle and higher level students, Ramos Navas continued.

The entity establishes studies on food, environment, plant health with results at national level, as well as specialized production of robusta and arabica coffee grafts, vegetative reproduction of plants, exotic fruit trees such as strawberry, acerola, golden apple, loquat, fig, sapote and mamey grafted, and edible mushrooms.