Tobacco production in Cuba, another victim of the US blockade

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 3 (ACN) Officialized on February 3, 1962, the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba has a direct impact on tobacco production, considered the main exportable agricultural product on the island.

It limits the timely arrival of inputs by having to use distant markets, due to the financial chase of suppliers in the region, Gonzalo Rodriguez Perez, agricultural director of the Tabacuba business group, told the Cuban News Agency.

Thus, the Caribbean island has turned to more distant countries to acquire fertilizers, phytosanitary products, means of protection for workers, machinery, parts and pieces and, in short, the inputs demanded in each campaign.

Using external suppliers so far away makes the trip much more expensive and hinders the presence of the products on a specific date, he pointed out.

On some occasions we even have the financing deposited in the banks and they do not accept the transfers, all of which also has repercussions on the cost of the purchases, Rodriguez Perez remarked.

He also pointed out that in the last two years, fertilizers have been delayed by two and even three months, which has forced the sowing date to be postponed.

So many limitations have led to the search for and adoption of alternatives - backed by Cuban science and technology - in order not to reduce tobacco production, such as the use of agro-ecological practices and more resistant varieties of seeds that allow for greater productivity.

Despite the blockade, in January, Cuban producers sowed 420 hectares of the crop in excess of the 20,000 hectares agreed for the 2021-2022 period, an example of the efforts of thousands of people throughout the country.

Undoubtedly, the U.S. policy is a brake on Cuba's development aspirations, as it impacts the implementation of its National Economic and Social Development Plan until 2030, as well as the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.