Cuban central province starts coffee harvest

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Nov 3 (ACN) With the start of the coffee harvest today in the mountains of the municipality of Cumanayagua, in Cienfuegos, the first ripe cherries are already to the farmers' basket in a campaign that will not be as high as the previous one, but with the best quality of the grain.

The place chosen for the beginning of the harvest was the seed bank run by farmer Jesus Chaviano Ruiz, in the 10 de Octubre cooperative, where they obtain certified seeds of varieties of this exportable crop.

Omar Bermudez, director of the Eladio Machin Coffee Processing Company, told the Cuban News Agency that the harvest is a great incentive, because with the exports at the border, for example, in the Mariel Special Zone, the company receives 80 % of the sale in foreign currency that takes place in these businesses.

This year's harvest should reach the plan of 112 tons, a little less than last year, due to the effects of the weather and above all of the technological packages, including the deficit of fertilizers, he added.

In addition to the work forces, said the director, they have means of transportation and mule teams to extract the amounts of coffee and transport them to the dozen or so purchasing points located in the mountains.

In these mountains of Cienfuegos, especially in the highest places above sea level, high quality coffee is produced, from where the best brands are extracted, such as Crystal Montain, Cubita and Serrano.