Floods, storms, drought and heat, plus an array of economic concerns, are taking their toll on Cuban agriculture.

Inter Press Service reports that 75 percent of Cuban land used for crops and grazing has fallen into disuse, even as produce prices increase and the variety of crops available diminishes.

Raul Castro, who heads the Communist government there, said earlier this year that “structural and conceptual changes will have to be introduced” to address the situation.

Armando Nova, a Cuban academic in Havana, told Inter Press that increased local control over farming decisions, profitmaking, and allowing farmers to sell their crops directly at local markets, rather than mandatory sales to state agencies, are all necessary to boost cultivation and food production.

Source:

“AGRICULTURE-CUBA: Waiting for Announced Reforms”
Inter Press Service, December 5, 2007