This September 11, the situation of agro-livestock farming in the province of Holguin was discussed in video conference, where current problems and future actions were debated.
This video conference, under the presidency of Julio César Estupiñán Rodríguez, Governor of the province, and the presence of Ernesto Santiesteban Velázquez - First Secretary of the provincial Party, and other leaders of this political and government organization at this level and in the municipalities and business people, meteorologist Graciela Pérez was invited to explain about the local hydric situation, its accumulated drought, the disturbing behavior of the rainfall pattern so far, and the possibilities of very uncertain future rainfall.
The specialist explained the erratic rainfall behavior for this area, and its negative impact on the agricultural and livestock sectors, especially in the municipalities located in the west of the province, which are, by the way, the ones with the largest production areas.
In this regard, the provincial delegate of Agriculture, Vladimir Estrada Ricardo, explained that the main problem lies in the fact that the water available for this sector is declining, since the water reserves continue to decrease, for example, Limoncito dam with a capacity of seven million cubic meters, currently has only 0.8 million cubic meters.
The First Secretary of the Party, who thanked the meteorologist for her explanations, remarked that the climate will continue to affect us, with less rain and higher temperatures, as the expert said, but that should not be an excuse for not producing food, we must look for alternatives, we must design strategies and we must not wait for rainfall to have the land ready and prepared for when we get a downpour, or any amount of water, reasoned the top party leader in the province.
The First Secretary insisted on the need of making an early crop rotation, to turn to more drought-resistant crops such as yucca and CEMSA plantain, and take advantage of any existing irrigated area, since it is there where higher yields can be obtained, and it is from these entities that much more should be demanded.
He also asked to focus on municipalities such as Cueto and Mayarí, which have water thanks to the East-West Water Diversion System, and machinery for irrigation.
In this sense, it was requested that the Government of each territory be a more active actor next to the Agriculture System, because irrigation is not always exploited, in addition to the fact that there are eleven transformers that have been burned, therefore, insisted the First Secretary, they should look for solutions and not stop waiting for others to solve their problems, often due to lack of work organization, or lack of vision as Enpa company that has not made the best irrigation system designs and their corresponding location.
Juan Domínguez Pérez, the official in charge of the agricultural and livestock sector for the Provincial Party, reasoned that it would be convenient for Cueto and Mayarí to be assigned a larger amount of fuel for irrigation because they have been limited.
However, Mayarí, to cite an example, is criticized for having shipments to the markets of the city of Holguín and for social consumption far below its potential, so much so that smaller municipalities surpass it with higher volumes.
In this analysis, other issues were addressed, such as the delivery of meat and milk to the industry, which in general is below the contracted amount, so much so that its distribution has been affected.
In addition, the Dairy Company has a global statistic which does not specify the delivery by municipalities, making it difficult to know the defaulters.
In this sense, the First Secretary recalled that this was a problem of each territory, not only of the livestock sector, but also of the local governments, where not all of them have carried out a deep work with each producer.
It is recognized that the drought has been causing a decrease in the livestock population, but in the face of every challenge we have to grow, we have to look for alternatives, Santiesteban Velázquez pointed out.
And if we are talking about control, there is resolution 320 on the regulation or liberation of prices for their corresponding commercialization, which has just been applied to stimulate production, not to distort its objectives, as could happen if the contract is not complied with, assured the provincial Governor.
Finally, Juan Domínguez Pérez made some comments, where he emphasized on the need of bringing together the Bank and the Agriculture System of each municipality in order to finalize the request for the financing of a state credit for the encouragement of food production, especially for livestock, and where up to now there is not an answer to take advantage of this state decision.
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