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Reaching a landmark figure in agriculture reform, the government has handed over 1 million hectares of agricultural land in long-term leases to private farmers and co-ops since beginning an effort to boost food production on the island.
However, only 46 percent of the land distributed since 2008 is being used, according to Juventud Rebelde. Still, that’s progress from two years ago, when 60 percent of arable land in Cuba was fallow, most of it due to drastic cutbacks in sugarcane cultivation. Much of that land was overgrown by aggressive weeds, which are difficult to clear. Also, many of the startup farmers are facing uphill struggles due to lack of knowledge and scarce supplies, as well as a pronounced drought.
More than half of the distributed land is used for dairy and cattle operations, one of the most lucrative legal businesses in Cuba today; 26.7 percent are used to cultivate produce, and 7.7 for rice, according to the Juventud Rebelde report.
Even so, food production in Cuba dropped 7.5 percent during the first half of the year, according to the National Statistics Office (ONE). The statistics show drops in almost all staples, including rice, beans, potatoes, pork and eggs. One of the few exceptions was milk.
The recovery of food production has been hampered by a lack of state-provided supplies for new farmers, and continued bottlenecks in the state-controlled distribution system. Also, a drought curbed efforts to boost rice production, which dropped 1.7 percent during the first six months of the year. Bean production fell 27 percent. Consumers in Cuba have seen shortages for rice and beans throughout 2010.
The government is now allowing farmers to sell all of their milk production directly to consumers, and it raised prices it pays for most farm products. Also, the agriculture ministry is in the process of setting up a network of ”integral basic enterprise units” for technical services to farmers in all municipalities of the island, including private farmers. Finally, the government has opened rural supply stores where tools and seeds are available for purchase by any farmer, a new concept in a country where all farm implements have been distributed by the state.
According to an agriculture official quoted by Juventud Rebelde, the government has received 133,900 applications for long-term land leases, of which 83 percent have been approved.
