Cuba pushes to boost farm output

[Jahness]

Cuba pushes to boost farm output


More than half of Cuba's agricultural land is idle or underutilized, prompting a series of government reforms intended to dramatically boost farm production, government statistics released last week show.

The percentage of Cuban farm land that is idle increased to 55 percent last year from 46 percent in 2002, according to a study posted on the web site of the National Office of Statistics in recent days.

To reverse that trend, Cuba's government early this year quietly announced a series of plans to effectively restructure its Agriculture Ministry, and began granting idle land to small farmers and paying them more for the milk and meat they sell back to the state.

Cuba is trying to slash its dependence on imported food as soaring international commodity prices have sparked a worldwide food crisis. Its government plans to spend nearly US$2 billion on food imports this year to provide a majority of the monthly food rations all Cubans receive.

State-owned farms now hold a little more than one-third of Cuba's agricultural lands — down from about 70 percent two decades ago. The rest are worked by small farmers and cooperatives.

Official statistics show that 54 percent of private land is actively used, compared with just 29 percent of state-owned farms.

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Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.