Cuba is drawing up new strategies to begin with the 2022-2023 harvest on 20 October, after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian in Cuba’s heart of tobacco production, reports Prensa Latina.
Tabacuba President Marino Murillo described the province of Pinar del Río as crucial to this effort, but for this reason, he clarified, there are pivotal tasks to be accomplished.
The first task is to collect all the tobacco that is protected in the natural curing houses and warehouses. Of the 41,000 tonnes available, 33,000 are in this province, where 80 per cent of the infrastructure has been destroyed, Murillo said. To help free the facilities where tobacco was stored in the fields, 15,000 to 17,000 t of tobacco will be moved to other provinces and irrigation of seedbeds will be urgently resumed.
The other task is closely related to the recycling of all available materials, pickling sheds and natural curing houses in good condition, because currently the most missing element in the country is wood, Murillo added.
The early actions of tobacco growers in Pinar del Río, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of domestic tobacco production, saved 650 t of covered tobacco from damage.
Regarding the planting season, which covers 15,000 hectares nationwide, Murillo said that Cuba continues to focus on planting, although the area to be planted in Pinar del Río has not yet been determined. The programme in this province will depend on whether it will be possible to rebuild curing houses.