“In a small harvest like the current one, the one who trusts loses. For this reason, we must be more aggressive in solving problems, not leave anything for later," Julio Andrés García Pérez, president of Azcuba Sugar Company, said on a recent visit to Ciego de Ávila to analyze the development of the current sugar dispute.
The main political and governmental authorities of the province, the first secretaries of the Communist Party of Cuba and mayors of the municipalities most strongly linked to the harvest activity, executives of the sector's business system, presidents of cooperatives and union representatives participated in the meeting.
Although perfection is an ideal that rarely occurs, to limit errors to zero, Liván Izquierdo Alonso, a member of the Central Committee and first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in the province, urged the sugar growers to face the next harvest, marked as never before by lack of resources and limitations of all kinds.
The analyzes were basically focused on the Ecuador Sugar Agro-industrial Company, after evaluations carried out during a work visit by specialists from the national group.
Deficiencies in the organization of the beginning of the harvest and the need to make better use of the combines and active trucks in the cut are among the detected problems. However, it was recognized that with the improvement of various elements of the production process, the central refinery could grind at 80 percent of its potential standard.
Much more can be done in taking advantage of the limited resources available, such as the implementation of a third shift in a squad of modern Case combine harvesters. Linked to the work with this equipment, violations were detected in the payment system, which rewards the productivity of operators with standards below what is allowed, which can lead to a decrease in cutting rates and ultimately translate into less sugar.
A good part of the concerns of those present focused on the deficit of elements such as tires and batteries, which, according to the president of Azcuba, will have a positive response, although not totally, in the coming days. This will allow, among other things, to activate six YTO tractors with a dozen 15-ton (t) trailers to pull cane from areas close to the Ciro Redondo factory and thus increase the arrival of 6,000 t per day at its tipper as soon as possible.
Grind 777,211 tons of cane to produce 54,562 tons of sugar: thus, with that watchmaker's precision, the plans for the Ciego de Ávila milling that could whistle next week are conceived if other synchronizations are not delayed further in time. That of the Bioelectric power plant and the Ciro Redondo factory, for example.
"The main commitment in the short term is to end the month of January with 21,000 tons of sweet grain in Ciego de Avila," Liván Izquierdo Alonso, a member of the Party's Central Committee and its first secretary in the province held. For this, it is necessary that the factories grind above 70 percent, but also to provide agro-industrial workers with good, varied and constant gastronomic attention, in addition to the improvement of other working conditions.
Sustainability depends on planting
Izquierdo Alonso raised the bar for the Ciego de Ávila sugar producers by indicating as their goal this year the planting of more than 12,000 hectares (ha) of the sweet grass, higher than that of 2017 (the best in recent times).
On the subject, he stressed that it is a necessity, but also an obligation of this province. He insisted on wasting no time preparing the land after the cut to cultivate wherever possible. It is very important to advance in these first months of the year in the areas of the Enrique Varona Sugar Agro-industrial Company to avoid later problems with excess moisture in the soil.
The Ecuador Sugar Agro-industrial Company, located in the municipality of Baraguá, has a lot to improve on the subject, because, according to what was said, land is not prepared there and therefore compliance with its plan is in danger. There is only one bulldozer working and it needs the support of other entities.
The deterioration has been present in the seed bank with the breakage of electrical transformers and other equipment; in general, the center is not suitable, so an investment is required to restore it during the current year.
Likewise, the specialists point out that the cooperatives are in a critical situation with the sowing plan, of which barely half was executed at the end of 2022, and in the first days of 2023 they have hardly brought seeds to the furrows; situation that can be reverted at a rate of 40 ha per day to put all their equipment to work.
Another urgency identified during the analysis is to reverse the deterioration of the agronomic management of several plantations, when sugarcane was cut last March and April.
The president of Azcuba pointed out that more can be done with the machinery available in the use of the approved measures, the organization of work, double-shift strategies and contracting of teams.
He recalled that all savings in parts and pieces for machinery would be reversed in greater amounts of fertilizers and pesticides for the treatment of crops.
Self-sufficiency is still a pending task
Without neglecting the cultural attention to sugarcane, agricultural production in this sector is vital. The meeting revealed that there is still a long way to go to supply food to the workers and contribute to the communities in which they are located.
Production on state farms is below what is required, while 827 ha are due to the cassava and plantain planting program in Ciego de Ávila (mainly due to seed problems).
In the case of cold planting of various crops in the sector, it does not show a better face either, behaving at 73 percent of its plan to date. Likewise, at the end of 2022, it was not possible to meet the state commitments to deliver milk and meat in the province, in general.
Wasted measures
In the financial sphere, the approval of the 93 measures to save the sector have hardly been used here, the numbers indicate this since, of a potential of 100 million pesos with a view to promoting plantations, only 15 million were used during last year.
“We have land, credits and we do not take full advantage of the potential within our reach. You have to go to the base to exchange with the producers to exchange and solve the problems”, García Pérez acknowledged.
Using all these resources, looking for alternatives and working tirelessly must be urgent tasks in 32 productive bases, out of a total of 57 in the territory, which show losses. However, progress is being made in the sugarcane payment system based on quality, especially in the central Ecuador refinery, with a well-implemented work system.
It is inconceivable, for example, that close to 7,000 pesos in freely convertible currency could not be accredited to producers, due to not having a magnetic card of this type, it was revealed in the work meeting.