Machado Ventura calls for increased
tobacco production
• “Cuban tobacco is the best in the
world and we can not forget this” stated Ventura
Ronald Suárez Rivas
PINAR DEL RÍO.—Second Secretary of the Central
Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, José Ramón
Machado Ventura, emphasized the need to enhance
tobacco production given the indisputable quality of
the leaf produced in the country, and high demand in
the international market.
 “Cuban
tobacco is the best in the world and we can not
forget this. It is an advantage we can not overlook,
therefore we must strengthen production,” he stated.
During an extensive tour throughout the province,
Ventura, inquired about preparations for the next
harvest, during which 15,940 hectares of tobacco
will be planted in the territory, representing
approximately 70% of the country’s total. He
commented that, over the last few years, production
has decreased, mainly due to a lack of necessary
attention to supplies, and other factors such as the
aging of many planters.
This must be resolved, Ventura said, since, in
addition to having a secure market, tobacco
cultivation provides employment to tens of thousands
of people in the province, the development of which
depends in large part on this crop.
Machado Ventura, accompanied by Gladys Martínez
Verdecia, first secretary of the Party in Pinar del
Río, and other provincial officials, also visited
areas linked to the cultivation of various crops,
livestock and the rice program, in the
municipalities of Consolación del Sur, San Juan y
Martínez, San Luis and Los Palacios, where he spoke
with farmers, leaders of the National Association of
Small Farmers (ANAP) and Ministry of Agriculture
personnel.
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