The population of Las Tunas become nostalgic when they see the scarcity of plantain varieties in the markets after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma.
It's not a total lack of products, as the cultivable areas of the municipalities of Jobabo, Majibacoa, Las Tunas and Amancio, which are far from the north coast, were not so affected by the storm, so there still are many plantations with production.
Eighty percent of the plantations in the municipality of Jesus Menendez, the largest producer in the province, were affected by the storm. The neighboring territories of Puerto Padre and Manati, in the north of Las Tunas, were also strongly affected, as the eye of Irma passed near them.
The supply of sweet potatoes, yucca, yam, sweet corn, squash and cucumber in the state markets is less complicated due to the good stock they had before the storm hit the province on September 8. They also have papaya, coconut, oranges and other farm products.
Farmers worked fast to recover the more than three thousand hectares of crops damaged by the aggressive meteorological phenomenon, which had a greater impact in the banana areas, and remember how good the production volume was previous to the catastrophe. The decision to redouble efforts in the fields to shorten the deficit period is seen as a positive.
The province's 30 production sites and other linked structures are giving priority to the plantings of short-cycle crops, but the promotion of plantain species has a special priority.
Source: periodico26.cu