Ceballos Agroindustrial Company boosts fruit tree plantings

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 11 (ACN) The Ceballos Agroindustrial Enterprise, leader of the productive and exporting pole of the central Cuban province of Ciego de Avila, boosts the planting of fruit trees, one of its main crops, in which mango, guava, pineapple and coconut stand out.

Osvadys Estrada Rodríguez, the entity's production director, told the Cuban News Agency that out of the 11,000 hectares of the estate, 4,568.16 are covered with fruit trees, a strategy that seeks to recover products in great demand among the population, in the border market and for export.

Of this total, 3,030.74 hectares are of mango, 797.54 of guava, 114.32 of pineapple and 222.05 of coconut, while the remaining 403.51 have avocado, mamey, custard apple, guanabana, Chinese plum, loquat, canistel, tamarind, among others, added Estrada Rodríguez.

He also explained that it is in Agroindustrial Ceballos' interest to grow each year in areas with these complementary foods, rich in vitamins and minerals, although some may also contain fats, oils and proteins.

The plan for planting in 2021 is 322 hectares, of which 31 are already planted and from this month with the spring campaign will be given a boost to the task, because we have the postures, obtained in nurseries and in the houses of technified crops, said the manager.

DCeballos, the company's trade name, contributes to foreign sales with aseptic and concentrated mango pulps, aseptic banana and guava purees, concentrated white grapefruit juices and sulphited papaya.

In the last decade, it has invested in the expansion and modernization of its technology, which has tripled fruit and vegetable processing levels, diversifying production, improving food quality and safety, and reducing energy carriers.

Despite the presence of COVID-19, which hinders greater commercialization, in 2020 the company ensured productions that replaced imports for a value of about 753 thousand convertible pesos.

In the previous year, it guaranteed its lines to the Mariel Special Development Zone and to the joint ventures Moa Nickel S.A. and Minera del Caribe (EMICAR).

It also delivered to Cuba Catering (which offers catering services, provisioning of products for sale and service on board, as well as interior outfitting of aircrafts), and to La Estancia (a Cuban entity whose mission is to produce packaged food and beverages for sale in the Cuban stores).