Significant decrease in agricultural production in Cuba

(Artemisa) agricultural production in the Cuban province of Artemisa, the former breadbasket of Havana, has declined in recent years, as has the entire island, which is now forced to import 100% of its basic foodstuffs.
Several specialists have recently warned about the dangers of food insecurity on the communist island, while the authorities are in charge of providing 11 million Cubans with basic food at subsidized prices through the famous rationing system “libreta”.
And in Artemisa province, adjacent to Havana province, a farmer who wishes to remain anonymous admits that the land is “wonderful”, but there is a “shortage of fertilizers, fertilizers and seeds”.
The farmer, who is part of a cooperative that used to receive all these inputs from the authorities, but now they “don’t offer anything,” said as he was picking onions from his field.
“The tractors are in poor condition, we have no resources, no fuel, we don’t get oil or tires. We have to work the earth with a little bit of a bull yoke.
Previously, every municipality in Artemisa had a storage and Marketing Center for crops, but” these barns are almost non-existent, there is no way to market or transport crops, ” he laments.
And not far away, in another field, Jesus, who does not want to mention his last name, has been working the Earth for 40 years. According to him, the yield from the cultivation of Malanga, a tuber popular with Cubans, has decreased by half.
This field “gives four to six bags per furrow, before it doubles,” he says with his feet buried in the damp earth.
According to official figures, agricultural production decreased by 35% between 2019 and 2023. Sugar production decreased from 816 thousand tons in 2020-2021 to 470 thousand tons in 2021-2022. Rice and black beans, which are the staple foods of Cubans, are mostly imported.