We must consolidate all areas for rice cultivation, Cuban VP says

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Sep 5 (ACN) Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa discussed in the central province of Cienfuegos with farmers and entities responsible for national rice production the possibility of consolidating all possible areas to increase volumes in future harvests.

With existing irrigation, fuel, and fertilizer capacities, the leader urged all Ministry of Agriculture companies and private producers to achieve the goal of planting more than 90,000 hectares in Cuba and reduce grain imports, according to the Radio Ciudad del Mar website.

Before the main leaders of the territory, Valdes Mesa emphasized the control of plantings and the government's responsibility for territorial distribution at appropriate prices.

Orlando Diaz, director of the Aguada de Pasajeros Grain Agroindustrial Company, explained the current conditions in the region to achieve higher grain yields and mentioned the commitment of 118 producers to contract.

One of these progressive farmers is Frank Michel Becerra Miranda, owner of the La Perseverante farm, located on land belonging to the Sergio Gonzalez credit and services cooperative in the municipality of Aguada de Pasajeros.

The farm's ties to the Cuba-Vietnam project, dedicated to rice development in the country, allowed Frank Michel to plant more than 13 hectares with two seed varieties: Perla de Cuba and the AI ​​Cuba-25.

Despite the resource shortage, they achieve a yield of six tons per hectare (t/h) in the spring season and about eight t/h in the winter season.

In addition, the farm has managed to introduce some varieties native to Asia, which require less inputs and have very short production cycles.

Essential to these goals is having technology for the drying, sorting, and packaging processes, and in this regard, the Cienfuegos region has the advantage of having two grain processing facilities.

Since December 2015, the La Paquita mill has been operating in the town of Aguada, with the capacity to process five tons per hour and a storage base of three thousand tons of silos.

In addition, a modern rice drying facility, using Chinese technology, located in the popular council of Constancia, in the municipality of Abreus, was opened last July.

This facility has the capacity to process 37 tons of rice daily, while its storage capacity amounts to 1,000 tons of dry husk grain.