Osniel López López López is a producer belonging to the Domingo Portela Placeres UBE in the municipality of Contramaestre. He is a farmer who lives in the agricultural area of Bungo. He is one of the farmers of this Santiago territory that is part of the plantain planting program.
This farmer has about 7,600 plants of the FIA 21 variety on his two hectares of land. About his experience, the protagonist tells us that this is the first time he has grown this variety, and it has good yields.
After nine months, the banana started to produce a bunch and after about eleven or twelve months the cuttings began. Now is the beginning and we have already delivered about one hundred quintals of plantain, which is little for the amount we have in production.
But we have also had many difficulties with resources and nature. However, we are already producing because at the beginning there were many failures that had repercussions on the crop.
Journalist: What conditions should this type of crop have to have a higher yield according to your experience?
Osniel López López (OLL): Fundamentally the irrigation, having this the plantain is effective the productions, with a stable irrigation not to irrigate this week and to irrigate next month.
Q: Tell me about the characteristics because this crop comes mainly from the western region of the country.
OLL: Given the necessary conditions, this banana gives bunches of approximately ninety to one hundred and twenty pounds, ten or eleven hands. Sometimes we cannot bring it to its consistency because of problems such as theft and the lack of resources, mainly irrigation system, which affects the yield.
Q: Do you plan to increase the number of areas destined to banana cultivation?
OLL: Yes, even if we have difficulties with water, because we can achieve higher yields.
Q: Other farmers are planting this variety of plantain in the locality.
OLL: Yes, others are planting and there is a lot of optimism with this crop because it has a good yield.
