CIEGO DE AVILA: Lands that were covered by marabou for some fifteen years in the municipality of Chambas were rescued for sugarcane production with a new project by Azcuba Business Group.
The area corresponds to Las Marianas basic unit of cooperative production (UBPC by its Spanish acronym), next to Enrique Varona González sugar mill, where there are already a thousand hectares planted.
The encouragement of plantations began last year after cleaning the area and preparation of the soil through a program to contribute to Ciego de Avila to have more raw materials in future harvests, Iran Vega, manager of the UBPC, said.
He added that they use irrigation water in a controlled manner to avoid affecting the groundwater at the site, where the lands are low but fertile, and the varieties of grass are highly productive.
The investment also includes draining of fields located in coastal and swampy places, where 100 kilometers of canals have been built thanks to the effort of innovators.
Besides sugarcane, they also cultivate rice, tubers, beans and vegetables for self-sufficiency, in addition to cattle breeding.
Nery Ruiz Perez, head of production of the UBPC, told reporters that cash income of the workers arise to more than 700 Cuban pesos per capita monthly as average, according to labor productivity.
Ciego de Avila planted in 2014 over 15 thousand hectares of sugarcane and intends to match that figure this year to enable its four mills to grind for 150 days or more in the next harvest.
