At present, Cuba is
reaping the benefits of organic farming. Of central
importance is an understanding of natural systems
of fertilisation and pest control in place of synthetic
chemicals. "In the past three
years, Cuba has used only 22
per cent of the pesticides it
used in 1989," said Luis
Garcia, head of Havana
University's department of
agro-ecology.
Cuba's transformation to
organic techniques did
not arise - contrary to
the case in Europe and North
America - from the luxury
of consumer concerns with
the health and environmental effects of conventional
agriculture. It has been a
state-motivated conversion
stemming from the need
to avert a general food
crisis. Many families - not
restricted to rural areas -
till paddy by the roadside.
In Havana alone, some 30,000 families have converted gardens into mini-farms
since 1991.
In the outskirts of
Havana, the Cuban Association of Organic Agriculture
(ACAO) now runs mixed livestock and crop trials.
Fernando Furies, director of
ACAO, explains that the overall aim of the association is to
develop systems suitable to
provide enough nutrition for
the family of an average
Cuban campesino (small
farmer) on a three-hectare
plot of land.
"Because many farmers
now have the freedom to
farm individually, the production of organic food has
risen exponentially and
since 1993, 42 per cent
of rice is now farmed organically," claimed Furies.
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