• Submitted by: manso
• Editorial Articles
• 11 / 21 / 2010

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By Freddy Perez Cabrera. Any solution that helps save the nearly 47 million dollars destined by Cuba to purchase the coffee consumed by its population is welcome, as long as such a proposal is rational and sustainable. With this objective, Cubans are developing coffee plantations on plain regions, as an alternative effort to the traditional practice of growing coffee only on the mountains.

The project has been implemented with more enthusiasm in the central province of Villa Clara in order to leave behind the poor harvests reported over the past few years, with 2009 reporting the lowest coffee yield, only 50 tons. The best harvests reported up to 1,185 tons, noted agriculture official Jose Ignacio Corcho, who is in charge of this crop.

The highest coffee yield took place in the 1991-92 harvest, on 3,894 hectares planted with the bean, which was considered the best in the history of the central territory. However, the neglect of this crop following an exodus of labor from the mountain to other better paid sectors caused the lack of attention and the aging of plantations, most of which are over 25 years old, said the official.

Add to this fact the impact of storms that hit the area, the prolonged drought and the action of pests, as well as low prices at which coffee was purchased from its cultivators. These were all factors that had a negative impact on the traditional yield, Corcho explained.

The need to work hard so that the country does not keep importing a commodity that can be produced here, made local coffee cultivators in Villa Clara draw up a strategy that combines the recovery of coffee plantations on the mountains, where the best Cuban coffee—Crystal Mountain-- is produced and the development of the crop in the plains, based on appropriate requirements.

The program, which kicked off in 2006, includes the renovation of over 1,300 hectares planted with coffee in the territory, said the official, who noted that 80 percent of that figure has already been done. This does not include another 1,053 hectares being exploited by the Youth Labor Army—a branch of the army dedicated to food production--, and the development of many other plantations in non-mountainous areas.

Reality or utopia?

Growing coffee on the plains is, far from a fantasy, the so-far unused opportunity of exploiting thousands of hectares of land, which are still idle, and having stable labor force, something not very commonly found in the mountains.

The new plantations show their vitality

This is the case of the Luis Arcos Bergnes’ farm, the former Carmita sugar producing-complex, in the locality of Camajuani. Here, the farmers have planted 27.8 hectares of Robusta coffee out of 330 hectares included in the whole program.

Production manager at the farm, Carlos Gonzalez, said that the project has been welcomed by the workers, for whom coffee cultivation represents a source of employment and economic advancement.

The workers on the farm, thus far dedicated to ranching and reforestation, are striving to make appropriate use of the forests of carob trees and other species, as well as of the soil to plant this coffee variety, a task welcomed with satisfaction by the locals, Gonzalez explained.

The sowing took 1,666 coffee plants per hectare, which boast enviable health, while nearly 40 people are dedicated to their cultivation, said Jose Luis Alba, who heads the coffee growers at the Roxete farm.

This task is new for us, but we are getting familiar with it very fast. 98 percent of the plants have grown after the sowing season, and those that did not make it, we have transplanted.

Luisa González and her husband Omar Hernández are two workers on the new task. They say they are happier now because they have a job guaranteed for the future, the pay is good and in a four-year term, once their plantation begins to produce coffee, they will earn more.

We go into the fields at 6:30 in the morning in order to take advantage of the fresh early hours. We are now involved in cleaning up the weeds, so that they do not invade the area, said Felix Febles, a quiet man who has embraced the new project very rapidly.

Yurignenis Moya, the youngest of the workers, says he already knew this job, a reason for him to train the rest of them. "This work is hard but you need to have the will to undertake it and advance, because this is a good opportunity to earn our living in an honorable way."

Like in any new task, there are things to improve. So far, they have had to bring their own tools to do the job, while they also bear some dissatisfactions which, hopefully, are to be addressed and solved, because this project is high priority for the province and the country.

RECOVERING LOCAL COFFEE PRODUCTION

The province of Villa Clara needs 1,190 tons of coffee annually to meet local consumption. By 2015, when plantations get reanimated on the Guamuahaya mountains, particularly Arabica coffee fields, and over 300 hectares of the Robusta species planted on the plains start to produce, the province could reach a production of 800 tons, though the figure would not yet be sufficient.

Robusta coffee contributes a higher yield and is more resistant than the Arabica coffee, while it adapts well to the characteristics of plains, but it requires careful management in the shade plus other factors. This coffee is usually mixed with other high quality beans. A ton of Robusta coffee sells at the world market at nearly 2,000 dollars, a sum that could be saved if the project is successful.

The development of seedbeds in all the municipalities allows Villa Clara province to have all the seedlings its needs. Another strength of this territory is the existence here of the largest seed bank in Cuba, with 24 commercial varieties produced at the Experimental Coffee Station, located in Jibacoa.

Studies to implement this project in other territories are underway in the localities of Remedios, Placetas and Ranchuelo. This experience along the development of small plantations in home backyards and small plots of land could improve the current poor production in just a few years.

Source: Granma