Cuban province seeks to increase rice production

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, July 1 (ACN) Increasing rice planting and production in the central province of Villa Clara is the main objective of the Emilio Cordoba Agroindustrial Grain Company in the municipality of Encrucijada.

Yanelis Saborido Perez, director of the entity, stated that a technical and economic plan for this year's cold and spring campaigns has been established for 3,050 hectares (ha), but 4,900 ha are planned to take advantage of the area's potential.

Workers from eight municipalities in the territory, such as Sagua la Grande, Camajuani, and Santo Domingo, contribute to rice production for various priority destinations in social consumption centers such as Education and Health.

With the goal of increasing production levels to replace most of the high volumes of rice imported annually from other countries and protect the economy, areas affected by marabou grass and other weeds are being rescued, she explained.

Self-sufficiency is possible, but we must all work together, support producers in all municipalities, and improve the areas to increase the cultivation of this grain, she indicated.

Among the company's potential are contracts with approximately 50 cooperatives, the results of the Felix González Viego productive political movement and other producers with good yields, and the use of the husk as biomass in the state's three industries dedicated to drying and milling the grain.