CAMAGÜEY.- After hearing the sentiments of producers, businessmen and scientists - as it should have been done before the start of the Ordering Task - the Cuban Government announced on April 14, 63 measures, 30 considered urgent, with the aim of encouraging food production. The proposals that these days are explained in all the provinces and that in May will reach each municipality and cooperative unleash old ties that held back agricultural management in the country.

We must be very clear that the proposals alone will not fill our lean markets and small squares with food, fruits and grains; much less, as if by magic, will milk and its derivatives and meats abound overnight; but it must be recognized that, if things are done well, they constitute a very important productive impulse.

One of the most revolutionary measures was the opening of marketing for companies, grassroots business units, cooperatives and peasants, who after fulfilling the state commission can sell their fruits - in leased establishments - to tourism, in the retail network and in stores that operate in CUP and MLC.

That social consumption is the first priority seems very successful, because they ensure food for our institutions of Public Health, Education, Social Assistance, agencies. We cannot renounce this to fatten our pockets, since this Revolution and its men and women from the countryside have always been by the side of the people.

The possibility that the ranchers and peasants contract directly services and supplies with the companies opens innumerable avenues for them. From June 1st- date of entry into force of the measures - will be able to negotiate with the most efficient, agile entities that assure them quality. Everything points to the fact that the state companies of the agricultural system are forced to shake off the laziness and inefficiency that the majority suffer in order to be profitable.

During the seminar on the implementation of the measures, held in the province on Monday, April 26, Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca insisted on the need to place the person who gives birth to the land in the center of work. The fact that contracts are made from now on with the peasant on his farm, next to the furrow, will adjust the commitments to the real potentialities and will force many to leave the bureau and sweat the heat of the field.

In order to encourage the owners of cattle, buffalo and goats, they were authorized to sell milk and its derivatives with prices by agreement, based on compliance with established indicators and the contracted delivery plan. Another novelty that responds to the concern of those who, because of the distance, could not collect fresh milk and make cheese - and who had been left with the Ordering task at an economic disadvantage - is that from the sixth month of the year the value of the same will be paid by agreement with the Dairy Company, depending on the quality.

The authorization of the commercialization of bovine meat (beef and buffalo) and the self-consumption to the owners of the cattle was a demand of decades. Many were surely pleased that the slaughter permit is carried out with the closing of the 2020 calendar and once the process has begun, the delegation of Agriculture has a week to respond.

Necessary modifications in banking services and guarantee requirements, the elimination of non-payments to producers, under the principle of those who do not pay, do not buy, the increase and diversification of Insurance services, the application of reductions to electricity rates to all agricultural activities, are other decisions made tailored to the field.

We do not ignore the scarcity of inputs and technological obsolescence in the sector, but they are not the only obstacles that slowed down agricultural development; putting most of them aside, we have to move forward.

Photo: Olando Duran Hernández/ AdelantePhoto: Olando Duran Hernández/ Adelante

Abilio Conde Rojas is a recognized rancher in his guild. At the San Antonio farm, near the former Camujiro thermal baths, at kilometer No. 8 of the Vertientes highway and associated with the José Antonio Echeverría Credit and Services Cooperative (CCS, for its acronym un Spanish), from the municipality of Camagüey, it achieved in 2009, he produced 300,067 liters of milk, which made him the largest peasant producer of food in Cuba.

This peasant who understands cattle to the entrails for many years expected measures such as those now promoted by the Cuban State to boost food production, and especially livestock.

“All the plans and requirements, both for the production of milk and to obtain the authorization to slaughter an animal are achievable. I assure you that we could arrive. The other very good thing is that the people are going to benefit because now the over-compliance of the milk I can sell it without intermediaries, in addition to the fact that its derivatives can also be marketed. The products leave the farms at a price, and when they arrive in the city it has tripled, and now that has to end.

“That we were authorized to kill an animal for our consumption was a long-standing claim and the time has come; in addition, we can also sell the meat in the place that is destined for it. I have always exceeded the agreed commitments, so I will not have any problem. The ways for us to market in MLC and have that income for the development of our farms seem very positive to me. The day June 1st. (when the new measures are put into effect) will be a historic day, I assure you. In every way we have won ”.

Abilio has a milk plan for the current calendar of 54,000 liters. At the moment, he delivers around 200 each day, and in the spring it must collect between 500 and 600 liters of the important food; he also assumes an agreement for the fattening of bulls.

From the Los Viera farm, located at kilometer 2½ of the southern ring road of the city of Camagüey and belonging to the Renato Guitart CCS, from the provincial capital, more than 1 000 quintals of meats and vegetables leave each year for social consumption. , fruits and grains, among others.

Jorge Viera Manso, his usufructuary, is one of the farmers in Camagüey who produces the highest volumes of various crops in the entire province.

“The announced measures benefit us, fundamentally the adjustments in electricity rates, water, the prices of bioproducts and the procedures and services provided by the companies. We, from the beginning of the Ordering Task, did not advocate raising the price of our productions, we know that this has a negative impact on the town, what we wanted was to lower the cost of the resources and services we need to produce food.

“The flexibility of the commercialization will also have a positive impact. Now the crops are no longer going to be lost in the field, as happened to us on many occasions, while we waited for them to come to look for them. In addition, it opens many doors for us to contract supplies and services directly with companies. Concern persists about the high price of oil for agricultural work, I hope it is one of the issues that are being reviewed ”.

Viera knows well about overcoming obstacles and looking for alternatives, along that path he came to declare his farm as agroecological in 2016. The use of organic materials, biofertilizers and intercropping, as well as guaranteeing his own quality seeds have been practices that allow him to obtain healthier crops, in harmony with the environment and reduce costs.