SUBJECT: Sugarcane has always been “king” in Cuba.
However, while the island nation once produced millions of tons of sugar, next year local media say they are expecting a fraction of that, 300,000 tons.
A painful reminder of the decline of agriculture in Cuba.
Supply shortages have plagued the country’s farms, and sugar has become extremely scarce.
Farmer Cristobal Ramos is still hanging on.
“I think that if the Government takes care of the farms and sugarcane farmers who still have sugarcane and others who are interested in growing sugarcane, farming can continue – if they give us some fertilizer, some medicines, supplies, etc. Because sugarcane is a fragile crop, as you can see, Hurricane Rafael passed through here and caused chaos, and the sugarcane was raining slowly.”
A crumbling tower in the town of Artemisa marks one of the many mills that no longer produce raw sugar on the island.
There used to be a hundred export products for both Cuban and foreign customers.
Yasen Sanchez lives nearby.
“After the closing, this is over. Before, life was different, there was sugar, there was everything. Now here, look, the ruins of the tower, and it’s falling apart. This here is bad, bad, bad.”
Now, sugarcane production is dominated by state-owned mills in Cuba’s Communist-run economy.
The government said this week that with less sugar cane, only 15 mills will be opened for sugar production.
That’s down from 24 last year.
The government says that since the tightening of US sanctions and the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19…
Food production and processing in Cuba has fallen over 40%.
Officials have not disclosed this year’s output, but a Reuters estimate of around 300,000 tonnes is similar to production in the late 1800s.