GAF
Gradually increases coffee production in Las Tunas
About twenty producers in the province of Las Tunas are inserted in the coffee development, an important item for the country's economy, as it contributes to import substitution and is highly coveted by the Cuban population.
Although this is a common crop in mountainous regions, in recent years it has been gradually multiplying in flat areas such as those of the Las Tunas territory, where a strategy was designed to incorporate state producers and the private sector. Thanks to these projections, the planting of about 35 hectares was organized for the 2020-2021 campaign, according to the agronomist Yoandry Pupo Romero, a coffee specialist at the Agroforestry Company, who added that the municipality of Colombia is prioritized for accumulating experience in activity. He pointed out that, until 2025, it is intended to incorporate new producers who are legal landowners, have an area of ??more than two hectares, have a water guarantee and comply with the indications of the experts. In Las Tunas, isolated individual experiences have been reported for a long time, mainly with the Coffea canephora species, known as Robusta, with easy adaptability to local climate conditions and its strength against the attack of coffee rust and nematodes. However, a promising cultivar of Vietnamese origin is currently being introduced, which was certified by the Seed Bank of the Agroforestry Company of the Granma municipality of Buey Arriba, and which has been accepted by specialists from Las Tunas. The development of coffee growing in the territory has its main pillars in the companies Agroforestal, Integral Agropecuaria Las Tunas, Agropecuaria Las Tunas and Agroindustrial of the Ministry of the Interior, in addition to the Cooperatives of Agricultural Production and Credit and Services. The program for the production of coffee in the plain, created several years ago in Cuba, is complemented by the intention of the National Movement of Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture, which provides for its cultivation in the patios for consumption at home.
