GAF
Coffee jump still waiting
It is very possible that in 2030 the coffee production of Cienfuegos will need a pole to achieve the more than 640 tons (t) contemplated in the development program of this crop in the mountains of south-central Cuba. The figures of recent years, far from growing, mark a downward curve. In 2019, for example, volumes were around 163 tons, and in 2020 they barely reached 126.
A reordering program has sought to reverse this reality for more than five years and, although the numbers still appear in red, very far from the historical estimates, other facts prove that the intentions are serious and the goals are not in vain. Omar Bermúdez Sánchez, general director of the “Eladio Machín” Coffee Processing Company, from the municipality of Cumanayagua, said that the scheme, designed in 2013 by integral technicians and agronomy professionals, began with the renovation of the plantations that accumulated a long time of exploitation and were aged. “Currently, he said, 75 percent of these are young and there is another 25 to be transformed, so we must conclude in 2022. In addition, we are working to add new coffee areas with the purpose of increasing, year after year, the productive levels , which are still very low ”. Other strategies were directed at the investment sphere. Four camps of the Youth Labor Army (EJT) were built to increase the labor force - so deficient in the Cienfuegos hill -; the acquisition of trucks improved transportation from the productive bases to the industry, and managed to equip the company with a more strengthened infrastructure in line with its ambitious projections. PILLARS FOR TAKE-OFF When the first steps of the coffee development program began to be taken, everything up there was weak and had hit rock bottom. The “Eladio Machín” bought the seeds from entities in other territories and processed the grain under technological conditions that were not very efficient and harmful from an environmental point of view. This - said Osniel Villa Palacio, technical director - led to the creation of the Bank of Certified Seeds of Café Mayarí and the start-up of three ecological pulpers associated with the Base Business Unit (UEB) of Industrial Benefit. With the advice of the Jibacoa Experimental Station, the producer Jesús Alberto Chaviano Ruiz built what is today the best seed bank on the island. He then planted eight varieties of arabic coffee resistant to pests and diseases, which satisfy the productive demand local and other provinces, with yields greater than 1 t of golden coffee (ready for export) per hectare (ha). “The work, said the farmer, is intense to aspire to good results. Here the areas are identified, fenced and isolated from each other, because there can be no crossings or varietal mixing. It is hard work, to collect, to process, but the prices of the seeds favor us. The kilogram (kg) rose to 415.00 pesos and a worker earns around 240.00 per day, because we pay the can at 60.00 ”. According to Villa Palacio, “this has allowed us to have quality postures. Our coffee plantations are made with seed of basic origin, certified, the most suitable that can be obtained ”. It is no coincidence that, despite the very small production volumes, Cienfuegos ranks as the largest producer of Arabica coffee with an exportable range and leads the industrial performance in the country. Another pillar is the ecological pulpers, one of which was financed by the Connecting Landscapes project, which has also contributed to the purchase of other resources. The largest is in the community of San Blas. Ten productive forms are taxed on this, which makes it process about 9 thousand kg of coffee daily. “At the facility, about 70 percent of the coffee production is pulped. The technology does not pollute the environment, it takes advantage of the husk of the bean - used as organic matter and for the ovens in the drying area - and only uses one liter of water per 40 kg of washed coffee. It is much more economical, efficient and comfortable for the operators, ”said Amable Delgado Rodríguez, brigade chief. Such investments respond to future growth lines, which have had to be updated due to the shortage of nitrogen fertilizers for plantations, one of the great obstacles to overcome in order to make the expected leap. 2021: ANOTHER STADIUM The current year could mark a takeoff in the implementation of other actions, such as the development of coffee in the llanos. Although Cienfuegos has had a productive pole of this type since 2019 in the settlement of El Mango, in Cumanayagua, of almost 30 ha, the idea in 2021 is to move towards the rest of the municipalities with the sowing 60. Bermúdez Sánchez commented that this is one of the policies promoted by the country within the coffee sector, along with provisions focused on the issue of exports. “Now, the more we export, we have the possibility of receiving money in freely convertible currency to be used in the value chain, from the company to the producer, with the aim of capitalizing our agriculture. It is, he said, very important, together with the incursion into the Mariel Special Development Zone, which allows us to use 80 percent of the currency that we obtain there ”. The manager also alluded to the rise in grain prices - those that could be tempting for the peasants - and highlighted the nursery campaign that they intend to extend to productive forms to specify this year, the sowing of some 240 ha of coffee in the mountains from Cienfuegos. They are, in his opinion, weighty strategies that require constancy in all orders so as not to fail in the leap that he still dreams of taking place in 2030.
