Cuba updates rice production forecasts

 HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 16 (ACN) Science, technology and innovation are destined to become pillars for the revival of rice production in Cuba, which in the current decade has been limited due, basically, to the general lack of inputs and spare parts for the grain harvesting machines.

This was expressed by the director of the Rice Technological Division, Oslando Linares Morell, who mentioned among the causes of this progressive decline, the two years of the pandemic (COVID-19), with all that it implied in the economic order, including the loss of the supply chain that Cuba had worldwide.

In an interview with Granma newspaper, the specialist said that the tightening of the U.S. blockade measures, the inclusion of Cuba in the list of sponsors of terrorism and, more recently, the war in Ukraine, which also has negative consequences for agriculture and the sector in particular, also have an impact.

The high calorie content and the possibility of storing it unprocessed are characteristics of this cereal that make it a strategic food for the country.

According to Linares Morell, Cuba requires more than 600,000 tons of rice to cover the standard family food basket and social consumption, but the reality indicates that more than two thirds of this wide consumption must be satisfied through imports, and not precisely from nearby countries.

The Comprehensive Rice Development Program, which began to be put into practice in 2012 (and was updated six years later), had planned to achieve, by 2030, rice self-sufficiency on the island.

In order to achieve that purpose, the official explained, some 200,000 hectares should be planted, a yield of six tons per hectare should be obtained, and a wet cereal production of 1,200,000 tons should be achieved, which would allow obtaining more than 600,000 tons of consumed rice per year.

In his opinion, up to 2018, the program progressed satisfactorily, since Cuba that year broke the historical record of rice production, with 304,000 tons.

The plans for 2023 are still quite low, with about 40 % of what was expected at this point in the development program, Linares Morell remarked, and according to him, this means that of 140,000 hectares initially projected, only 68,000 will be planted in this calendar.

Despite the difficulties of the year just started, he said, it is possible to start the gradual start-up in 2023, and strengthen it in, at least, a three-year period.

The executive highlighted that a real advantage for Cuba is its consolidated seed program, since the country's rice is self-sufficient, and today 12 varieties are being developed in production throughout the country, a program strengthened by the collaboration projects with Vietnam and Japan.