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| Cuban government begins lending unused land to private farmers to boost food production |
| Havana, 02.04.2008 |
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| HAVANA: Communist Cuba has begun lending unused land to private farmers and cooperatives as part of a sweeping effort to step up agricultural production, a small but potentially landmark step that could change the face of farming on the island.
Government television reported Tuesday that 51 percent of arable land is underused or fallow, and said officials are transferring some of it to individual farmers and associations representing small, private producers.
"Everyone who wants to produce tobacco will be given land to produce tobacco," and it will be the same for coffee or anything else, said Orlando Lugo, president of Cuba's national farmers association.
It was not clear how much land had been transfered and under what terms. Lugo added that the government has also begun paying farmers higher prices for some of the products they produce, including potatoes.
According to official figures, farming cooperatives already control 35 percent of Cuba's fertile farmland and account for 60 percent of the country's agricultural production. The distribution of land program began last year, according to state media, but was only officially announced this week.
Raul Castro has launched a major effort to increase food production since becoming Cuba's acting president after his brother Fidel fell ill in July 2006, and his government increased the amount it pays milk and meat producers by 2 1/2 times last year. The 76-year-old Castro formally succeeded his brother on Feb. 24.
Cuba spends about US$1.6 billion (€1 billion) annually for food imports, about a third of it from the United States. Washington's trade embargo prohibits tourists from visiting the island and prohibits nearly all trade between both countries, but food and farm exports to Cuba have been allowed since 2000.
The country imports about 82 percent of the US$1 billion (€630 million) worth of food it sells at subsidized prices to all Cubans on the ration system
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