Not because the furrows are straight, potato planting has become a round trip, without setbacks.

Well, although this week the 70 hectares that remain to be planted must be completed -out of a total of 960-, the fall of an irrigation machine twice and the imbalance in a turbine have prevented completion of what was planned in the first week of January.

Even so, a week's delay can hardly be called a delay, if we take into account the precedent of last season. Ciego de Ávila must complete the planting of the tuber this Friday, which will begin on November 16 and will be ready to start the harvest in the first ten days of February.

This is confirmed by Raúl Monguía Rodríguez, a specialist in this crop at the Provincial Delegation of Agriculture, who anticipates what should be obtained in the furrows: 17,860 tons.

Forecasts at last, that is what is expected. However, it was also expected that the herbicide would arrive on time: the 950 liters that agriculture requires for this tuber and, to date, Monguía reports, only 120 have entered. "The other was announced and we are still waiting," he laments.

Such a delay in the post-emergence herbicide has been evidenced in the presence of thin leaves in the potato and the only alternative to combat it has been to bend in the furrow. Weed. Several days of voluntary work have tried to stop the proliferation and "cultivate" better yields.

We participated in a productive workday in the potato, UEB El Mambi of the Comprehensive Agricultural Company at CP Vicente in #CiegodeAvila. #LatirAvileño #SinPerderUnDia #JuntarYVencer.

And that could be 17 tons per hectare (t/ha) in the national seed tuber and 22.5 t/ha in the imported one, predicts Monguía, who alleges that the nitrogenous supplement, fertilizer (urea), did enter his totality and good weather accompanies the crops.

We will have to wait until February to cover the other stage of the road. I hope that straight too, no kinks.