Cuba: Improvements in tomato crop in Guantanamo

The tomato crop in Valle de Caujera (Caujeri Valley), the main horticultural area of eastern Cuban province of Guantanamo accumulates some 961 thousand tons, above the plan to date. During the current season, which runs through April, it is expected to harvest 5,700 tons of the vegetable of which three thousand are destined for fresh consumption of the population. The use of better varieties than the traditional Vita, more productive and with a high content of solid soluble, is allowing the harvesters to obtain performances superior to the 17 tons per hectare foreseen.
Of the tomato harvested till now in Caujera's valley, 1246 tons were sent to the markets for the sale to the population and the rest was delivered to the canning vegetable plant of the territory. Another factor favoring tomato crops in Guantanamo is the contracting and direct sale of the producers to the industry, without the intervention of the state company which increases the quality of the raw material that comes to the factory with the consistent reduction of the losses of the product and the increase of the economic benefits, both for the producers and for the industry.