ZCZC
BCN-14
CUBA-SUGAR-ECONOMY-CLIMATE
Cuba to study whether climate change is hurting sugar harvests
HAVANA, July 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Cuba is studying whether to adjust its
sugar-harvest calendar in response to damaging changes in the island’s
climate, an official newspaper reported Saturday.
The Caribbean island, once the world’s leading sugar producer, is suffering
through a years-long decline in production even as its socialist leaders
struggle to modernize a sluggish economy.
Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel ordered state sugar monopoly Azcuba to
undertake the climate study in coordination with the Ministry of Science,
Technology and the Environment, and to carry out any necessary remedial
measures, the newspaper Granma said.
“The seasons are changing and we have to be able to adapt,” Diaz-Canel was
quoted as saying.
He said the traditional sugar-growing season, lasting from November to
April, might have to be adjusted.
The 2017-18 harvest produced “something more than a million tonnes of
sugar,” an amount lower than expected and far below historic highs, drawing
political concern at the highest levels.
Azcuba’s new president, Julio Garcia Perez, said the changing climate was
among the “fundamental causes” of lower production, with historically heavy
rainfall affecting the quality of sugar cane.
But he also cited causes including “the low productivity of harvesting and
transportation equipment… and management deficiencies.”
Cuba has seen its industry decline for decades, due to reduced purchases
from Russia and Eastern Europe, low global prices, lack of investment and a
reduction in farmed land.
From an annual peak of seven million tonnes in the 1970s, the industry has
in recent years struggled to manage exports of two million tonnes, even as
world sugar prices have recovered.
According to Azcuba, the island has 56 sugar mills, 10 refineries and 12
distilleries.
A total of 588,667 hectares (1.45 million acres) of land is devoted to
sugar-cane cultivation. The state industry has a fleet of 1,363 harvesters,
7,833 tractors and 4,623 trucks.
BSS/AFP/HR/1030