Sugar mills in central Cuba brace for the 2021-2022 harvest

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Sep 16 (ACN) The three sugar mills in the province of Cienfuegos are preparing themselves for the start of the harvest in December.

In ‘14 de Julio’, the oldest active sugar mill in Cuba, which is about to deal with its 191st harvest, the general director, Eng. Amaury Rodríguez Depestre, told ACN that they are making repairs and setting up a new cane mat in the tipper, improving two bagasse conveyors, and getting the power plant ready.

“We are doing maintenance in the rest of the mill, including the cane collection areas and the workshops in charge of the sugar combines, trucks and tractors, among other machinery,” he said. “There is also the ‘Antonio Sánchez’—118 years old, but the youngest of the mills to be engaged in the coming harvest—is now replacing equipment in the boiler house and refurbishing all other areas.”

Three of the five recently created agro-industrial enterprises in Cienfuegos will soon join this effort. The province is planning for a short harvest—120 days long—but intends nevertheless to achieve high levels of industrial efficiency.