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The Cuban sugar industry has gone from struggle to produce 10 million tons of sugar in the year 1970 (a challenge that has not been achieved) by the end of the 2017 campaign -2018 with a little more than production.
The target for this year was 1.6 million, but as milling progressed, expectations were lowered and there was talk of 1.3 million tonnes
. below what was achieved during the previous campaign (2016-2017) when 1.8 million tonnes of sugar were produced, a figure higher than that of 2015-2016 when the production was the current president of the Azucarero (Azcuba) business group, Julio García Pérez, confirms to the Council of Ministers that the results were at the height of the worst harvest of recent years. of the season 2009-2010 in which they managed to produce 1.1 million.
The rains are to blame, according to the new leader of Azcuba, who certified Tuesday what everyone else saw coming January: that this year's harvest was a disaster.
that the first secretary of the Communist Party, Raúl Castro would give warning on Wednesday in the central act of July 26 in Santiago de Cuba when he will describe the situation of the external finances of the Island and declared that it was "tense" because of the drop in sugar exports and tourism.
The first symptoms were felt in January. The Cuban authorities canceled their sugar exports and badumed that they would have difficulty meeting local demand after the rains destroyed the crops in full harvest.
After nearly 18 months of drought (until November 27, when the milling began), precipitation came with force and eventually was above historical average.
To this must be added the low productivity of harvesting and transport equipment as well as "organizational and managerial deficiencies". general, "said the new president of Azcuba and picked up Cubadebate.
These" organizational and managerial deficiencies "come in agreement with experts who believe that the economy of the State is "a black hole that eats everything."
To prevent bad weather from coming back To attract the attention of the sugar industry, President Miguel Díaz-Canel urged the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment to study the behavior of the climate in recent years to take into account when planning the harvest. "The seasons are changing and we must be able to adapt."
The weather, the culprit
The rains of November and December 2017 and January of this year paralyzed the Cienfuegos harvest in Guantanamo, where 70% of the country's production is concentrated.
The area was already touched after the p Hurricane Irma's onslaught in September 2017, coinciding with the period of highest growth of the planted cane, which was to mature at Christmas. Moisture does not combine with sucrose. The less it rains, the sweeter the cane is.
Irma took 330,000 hectares of cane in front of her in 10 of the 13 provinces involved in the harvest. The ravages were more important in Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila and Villa Clara, according to Granma at the time
In January only the production of sugar had started 26 of the 53 plants that had to participate at the 2017-2018 harvest. Those who crushed did not do it 100% but half gas. A 21% reported the devastation caused by the rains and 27% was late. The poor quality of the cane also did not help and ended up spoiling machines, according to the justification given by the official journal.
Today Granma confirmed the disaster. The 2017-2018 crop was close to one million tonnes. The next competition will begin grinding the cane which has remained unmilled after the current failure.
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