The farming cooperative, Francisco Gonzalez Cueto (Paquito), in the municipality of Baragua, has started the potato harvest in the province of Ciego de Avila.
Three months after the planting was completed, producers say they expect to harvest 3,000 tons from the 120 hectares they planted, stated engineer Jose Alberto González, president of the cooperative.
He said the goal was to achieve yields of 25 tons per hectare, thanks to the quality of the seeds they had imported, the excellent agricultural management they had performed, and good weather conditions.
In the current campaign, the state sector and farmers planted 852 hectares with potatoes in Ciego de Avila, which should produce about 17,000 tons, i.e. double the amount achieved in the previous year.
The agricultural enterprises with potato plantations are Arnaldo Ramirez, La Cuba, El Mambi, the farming cooperative Francisco Gonzalez Cueto, and the CPA Revolucion de Octobre and 26 de Julio, which are located in the municipality.
Engineer, Yusvany Benitez Cardenas, the deputy representative of Agriculture in this territory, said that the first fields received national seeds that had been reserved from the previous year, and that the other fields received imported seeds, which always bring better benefits than the Cuban seeds.
Part of the 86 center pivot irrigation in the province is used to irrigate water through a sprinkler system, which is more than 90 percent effective to conveniently take advantage of the vital liquid.
The measure was taken to save the important water resources, as more than a thousand pumping stations are damaged and the water reservoirs are very depressed because there's been a deficit of rains for three consecutive years.
Source: ACN