In Cuba, initiatives have been implemented to multiply rice production on an intensive scale. This has led to greater volumes of the highly valued grain, however, the shortage of inputs has made it impossible for the projects to meet the national demand. Given this reality, the popular rice production movement is being promoted, an alternative that in the Santiago municipality of Contramaestre is advised by the Grain Research Institute through the extensionist movement.
Among the attendees, there are producers with experience in the cultivation of this grain and others who are starting in the national movement of popular character.
During the workshop, the experiences of farmers who have undertaken the planting of rice with the minimum conditions are heard.
This is another of the demonstrative workshops attended by those interested in learning from the experiences of those who have already walked some way in the planting of rice in small areas.
For a whole morning, these Contramaestrian farmers share experiences and knowledge about rice planting using the transplanting technique.
In this municipality of Santiago there are already about twenty producers linked to this crop, taking advantage of low areas with runoff. Thanks to these meetings, more are joining every day.
In Cuba, some 400,000 tons of rice are imported to meet the population’s demand, which amounts to 600,000 tons, with significant amounts of foreign currency spent on this concept.
Expanding the area under rice cultivation is a way to raise production levels and thus contribute to the reduction of rice imports for the standard family food basket.
In these small plots with agroecological practices, part of the solution to the problem is beginning to be found.
