Preparations for next sugar harvest begin throughout Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 5 (ACN) The preparations for the 2017-2018 sugar harvest in Cuba began in several provinces at agricultural and industrial levels, especially in sugarcane plantations and the repair of sugar mills that will be in action.

One such case is that of Guantanamo, whose sugar producers surpassed by 12 percent the plan of planting by over thousand hectares.

Its sugar company executives said they took into account the estimated spring rains and outlined a strategy for the next harvest, which is expected to extend to 140 days from December to April 2018.

In Holguín, its workers expect to plant eight thousand hectares of cane in the remainder of the year, as part of the national program to progressively increase cultivation.

Most of this area is concentrated next to the Urbano Noris and Fernando de Dios sugar mills, whose farmers must plant as a whole over four thousand hectares.

The rest will be in charge of workers from the units belonging to Cristino Naranjo, Lopez-Peña and Loynaz Hechavarría sugar mills.

It is striking that in the case of the Fernando de Dios, which historically is included among the smaller areas to promote at this stage of the year, now appears as one of the largest within the provincial program, because it did not sow in the first semester because of the intense drought that affected the area.

In spite of the damages caused by this reason, in the territory about 8 thousand hectares were planted between January and June, one of the best results in comparison with similar stages of previous years.

Workers at the four sugar mills in Ciego de Avila recorded a four percent growth in their repair plans for the next harvest in just over a month.

More than 81 percent of the 15,943 hectares planted with sugar cane this year at Villa Clara are made up of broad-based furrows, a viable and sustainable alternative to mitigate the impact of climate change and raise agricultural yields.

The technique consists in planting more seeds in each groove, which allows a greater germination; in addition, this technique reduces the presence of invasive plants, according to experts in the field.

Sugar farmers have been working with this technique since 2016, with very satisfactory results because it increases production between 25 and 30 percent.

They employed 14 seeders, six of them made in the company Enrique Villegas, of Santa Clara, with a specific design for that activity.

Each one of them has a daily potential of planting of 70 hectares, which streamlines work and humanizes it.
Preparativos de zafra en varias provincias cubanas