Havana, February 22.- Last year, most agricultural and livestock production did not reach the planned volumes; the demand of the population, industry and social consumption remained unsatisfied; the contracting of productions to farmers and other economic actors was below expectations; The fulfillment of the 12 state functions that correspond to the Ministry of Agriculture were also not fully fulfilled.
Managers and workers in the sector described what was achieved in 2023 as poorly. For 2024, the aim is to stop the trend of recent years towards decrease. This was reported in the balance of the organization's work in 2023 and the projections for this year.
Held from the Plenary Hall of the Palace of the Revolution, through videoconference with all the territories, almost a thousand representatives of the sector participated in the exchange, including managers, farmers and other workers.
They were accompanied by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the members of the Political Bureau, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister, and Salvador Valdés Mesa, Vice President of the Republic, among other leaders. of the Party, the State and the Government.
We are convinced that this is a ministry that works hard, noted the Prime Minister in the conclusions of the event. We have—he conceptualized—a noble peasantry, which accompanied the revolutionary struggle and continues to accompany the Revolution; They are humble, hard-working people. And in agriculture—he added later—there have been transformations; but we are far from seeing the results.
Previously, during his speech, the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, recalled that today the Cuban family spends more than 65 percent of their income on buying food at high prices and on transportation.
The plans? Well, he said, there is a plan and it is the Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security Act (FANS Act). That is, our plan must be, she pointed out, to put agricultural production on the table of Cubans in an accessible way, at good prices and that guarantee healthy and adequate nutrition.
That is the plan, that is the analysis we have to do, emphasized the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party.
The feeding of the people is in your hands; Food is a national security problem, the Head of State stressed. He thus directed to continue with the organizational changes that are being made in agriculture, make efficient use of soils, increase yields, improve the interrelation between all economic actors involved in food production, resort to science and innovation and enhance agroecology, always taking the municipality as a base.
Díaz-Canel referred to the systematic tours that the country's leadership makes throughout all the territories, and where it has been proven that in the same place, in the same municipality, excellent examples can be found, those of good producers - who are the exception—and others who are not, but who are in neighboring lands, so it would be very beneficial, he said, to invite them to see and learn from good practices and make them the rule.
We have enough potential, he reflected; We have scientific potential, intelligence, people who know how to do things, as he was told by members of the delegation from the US agricultural sector who were in the country this week and who expressed to him that they were impressed by the mastery and knowledge that has among those who work in the Cuban agricultural sector.
The solutions do exist, but for that we have to work differently, said Díaz-Canel, who at the beginning of his speech emphasized the determining role that agriculture has in the Government's priorities for 2024 in order to correct distortions and re-boost the economy. especially in the macroeconomic sphere, the confrontation with inflation and the reduction of prices.
The agriculture system failed to comply with seven main productions of the state order in 2023: rice for consumption, twisted tobacco for export, beef for industry, fresh milk, coffee, eggs and wood.
In agricultural production aimed at the consumption of the population and industry, of the nine fundamental items, it failed to comply in seven, which is summarized in that almost 238 thousand tons of vegetables, more than 171 thousand tons of vegetables and thousands of tons of fruits.
The livestock statistics were not encouraging either, with an increase in animal theft and sacrifice, the death of animals due to malnutrition and diseases, and a low birth rate. Last year, according to the plan, more than 212 million liters of milk were not collected.
There was also a failure to deliver pork and there was a deficit of almost one billion eggs. In addition to all this, or because of it, feed production fell short by about 400 thousand tons.
In tobacco, the plans were not honored in several production lines, although it grew in others. The agroforestry branch failed to comply in its main areas; In coffee, 4,667 tons were no longer obtained; in cocoa, 870; in honey, 3,609 tons; in sawn wood, more than 50 thousand cubic meters.
Different from the bad behavior of the rest of the parts of the national agricultural system, the results were Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture, which honored its main plans, although also with insufficiencies and limitations; I could give more.
It grew in more than 4,000 new hectares of land, 52 new organic farms were built, more than 69 thousand patios and plots were incorporated. Promoted by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz since the 80s of the last century, in 2023 this system delivered more than one million 350 thousand tons of fresh vegetables and condiments.
The poor results of the agricultural sector in 2023 are fundamentally associated with low yields due to a deficit of inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, and limitations with energy carriers for planting and irrigation.
But the organizational problems, the poor hiring, the diversion of resources and production, the theft and slaughter of livestock, in addition to other problems, all worrying, also weighed heavily, although their concrete impact—what reaches the plate of Cubans and Cubans every day—whether of greater or lesser scope.
The head of MINAG, Ydael Pérez Brito, reported on the ministry's work projections for 2024, when, he said, it is expected to stop the decrease in the sector in recent years through greater management and control and better management of resources. , which must be distributed where they are best used, such as the eight productive centers of the country, the more than twenty business entities with the best results and in more than twenty municipalities with robust food systems.
He illustrated that in rice it is planned to contribute one hundred thousand tons, 20 thousand of which will be dedicated to seeds; In coffee, the plan is nine thousand tons, in addition to preparing the increase in coffee plantations to guarantee future growth.
In bananas, the intention is to increase the supply with different technologies, such as, for example, 200 thousand tons from about four thousand hectares that are developed with the extra dense system.
In tobacco, growth is announced in all its productions, including obtaining 20 thousand tons of so-called agricultural tobacco and delivering 80 million units of twisted tobacco. Seven thousand hectares will be planted with cassava.
In poultry farming, it is expected to increase the number of chickens and the delivery of nearly one billion eggs. In pigs, work is being done to increase the mass, especially of breeders, the basis of growth. In cattle, typical dairy farms continue to recover and an increase in the delivery of meat and milk is expected.
In this it is vital and constitutes part of the great reserve that we have, to achieve effective contracting of the different sectors, both agricultural and livestock, and do it producer by producer.
The head of MINAG also addressed the improvement of the organization's financial management in 2024. The principle, he said, is that the agricultural system has to move forward with its own efforts, with its own resources, so one of the priorities For this year and in future years it will be to generate the foreign exchange needed to encourage production and investments.
The organization's obtaining of foreign currency, he explained, has three aspects, the first and most important, exports, in addition to foreign investment and international collaboration.
Regarding exports, he explained that the business system served by the MINAG must bill some 433 million dollars this year (111 million more than in 2023), first of all for tobacco, in addition to charcoal, honey and coffee, the main items that the trading system in the international market, in addition to others that despite their small volume also make money: the sum of many few also gives income, that should not be forgotten.
Regarding cooperation, he reported that special attention is given to irrigation systems, for which lines of credit and donations for several million dollars are available. With respect to foreign investment, it was known that there are 37 projects with partners identified foreigners and that there are 21 constituted.
There are also about 60 projects in the Portfolio of Opportunities for Foreign Investment, a good part of which are the work of the territories, depending on their local food systems.
Minister Ydael Pérez Brito reported on the rest of the organization's main actions for the year, such as those aimed at effectiveness in the control and use of land; updating the structure and composition of the MINAG budgeted and business system; the effective management of the workforce, in particular the strengthening and expansion of labor groups, and the consolidation of work with cadres, especially with the youth pool. (Presidency of Cuba) (Photos:Revolución Studies)
