We have the responsibility to organize an efficient sugar harvest, to continue increasing sugar production, but achieve this with economic sense, emphasized José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the Party Central Committee and a vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, during a tour of various mills in the region accompanied by senior Party officials from each province.
To realize future harvests at 80% of industrial capacity, and yields per hectare far superior to those currently being achieved, must be a priority the sector, if not, the efforts being realized to reanimate this important source of income for the country will become obsolete, he stated.
During the exchange with directors and workers of the sector in Villa Clara, Machado noted the urgent need to produce sufficient sugar in the coming years, which will enable the planned increase to be achieved with production spanning 150 or more days, which requires zealous adherence to planting and cultivation schedules.
During the various meetings, Machado stressed the importance of a good start-up in Villa Clara, which has achieved some significant results such as those of the Ifraín Alfonso plant, which reached an index of 11 in its industrial yield during the period, or the more than 2,000 additional tons of sugar produced - a result of improved efficiency, which must be maintained and increase.
In Sancti Spíritus, Machado noted the good start to the harvest in the province and the prospective increase in sugar production. He highlighted, during a visit to the Uruguay facility, the quality of the repairs made to the Jatibonico mill, the greatest sugar producer in the country over the last period, and critical to prospects in Sancti Spíritus province.
He toured various areas of the facility and spoke with workers. In an interview with the press Machado explained that, despite having begun the harvest just a few days ago, efficient work at the Uruguay plant is notable, which can be attributed in large measure to the quality and extent of repairs and maintenance carried out, and the good weather conditions, both in Sancti Spíritus and the rest of the country, where the harvest is underway in all provinces.
Similarly he noted the need to continue eliminating marabou, reviving underutilized land and expanding irrigation to new areas, in order to increase sugar production, which in the case of the Uruguay should assure some 150 days of production – the current plan is to reach 121 - a goal which according to Machado can be achieved in around three years.
During his visit to the province of Ciego de Ávila, Machado stressed the need to redouble efforts to achieve stable yields and greater industrial efficiency, while avoiding technological missteps, the cause of setbacks from which recuperation is difficult. He described as unacceptable that, while several facilities achieve high yields in excess of 47 tons per hectare (the average for the province), others such as the Enrique Varona Mill’s Palma unit, the cooperative Primero Enero, the María y La Cabera state farm, produce just over 20.
Given this reality, Norelvis Gallo Saroza, director of the Ciego de Ávila Sugar Enterprise, stated that over the coming days an analysis will be carried out to find the definitive solution to improve functioning or restructure these centers of production. During a tour of the five plants in operation in Camagüey Machado Ventura commented on the future prospects and responsibilities of the territory, whose centers are expected to contribute 200,000 tons of sugar to the current harvest.
He also noted that despite initial setbacks at the Batalla de Las Guásimas and Argentina plants, in addition to the still slow reanimation of the Brazil after six years of inactivity, the conditions exist to recover the backlog and stabilize the pace of production. Such is the case of the Siboney and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes mills, which have fulfilled their respective plans in the so called ‘little harvest’ before the new year. As encouraging signs in this endeavor, Vladimir Pérez García, director of the Camagüey Sugar Enterprise, mentioned the good industrial performance, production costs, quality of sugar and generation of electricity, to date.
