Cuba invests on better equipment to boost rice production

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 18 (ACN) In Cuba, rice production is a priority task due to its importance for the population, and in order to increase the availability of the grain, several development programs are being carried out, including the import and domestic production of machinery.
Currently, to supply the country with the necessary amount of rice, more than two thirds of the total demand is imported, usually from very distant regions.

he strategy being pursued is to increase domestic production, which would guarantee greater stability and lower costs; however, this requires an enormous amount of water in a country with scarce hydraulic potential and periods of severe droughts.

Arcadio Ríos Hernández, senior researcher of the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (IAgric) explained in a press release published on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture (Minag) that, in addition, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, dryers, mills, storage silos, inputs that are increasingly expensive in international markets, are needed.

The Strategic Plan for the Development of the Agricultural Sector until 2030, prepared by the Minag, foresees expanding the areas with characteristics for rice planting and increasing the investment process and modernization of the agroindustrial chain.

In addition, the Comprehensive Rice Development Program, one of the largest investment programs in Cuban agriculture, includes the import and domestic production of a wide range of equipment for the entire rice production process.

The Program, approved in 2011, includes an investment amount of $889.5 million total budget for its execution, which is so far at more than 85 percent.

Today, tractors of various powers and sizes, seeders and harvesters, which are imported, are in the introduction stage, up to the national production of harrows, fertilizers, land levelers, tractors, trailers, pipes and mobile workshops, informed the specialist.

There are also plans to import equipment for field transformation brigades, including motor graders, bulldozers and laser leveling equipment.

The recovery, modernization and construction of grain dryers, mills and storage silos, and the use of agricultural aviation for sowing, fertilization and application of chemical and biological products are other priorities.

As part of this program, the means and facilities for irrigation of rice plantations are being modernized, also in response to the country's interest in ensuring compliance with production programs for rice, beans, corn and other grains that guarantee increased production, in order to contribute to the gradual reduction of imports of these products and increase consumption.

The completion of investments in agriculture in general is among the highest priorities, not only to reduce food imports, but also to overcome the impact on the Island of the world economic crisis generated by COVID-19.