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| Use of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides has been on the rise in Cuba |
By IANS, twocircles.net, September 29, 2012
Havana: Cuba has approved an investment programme to
build several plants to produce biofertilizers and biopesticides, as part of
its efforts to revitalize the depressed agricultural sector, a senior official
said.
Attending an international forum "Labiofam
2012" which closed here Friday, Minister of Agriculture Gustavo Rodriguez
said they would establish the new plants in a three-year period, reported
Xinhua.
Labiofam is Cuba's most important group devoted to the
production of biotechnological products for agriculture and medicine.
Besides providing farmers with biofertilizers and
biopesticides, the project aims to maintain yields, import substitutes and
protect the environment.
Rodriguez said scientists were seeking nutritional
alternatives for the soil to reduce the use of high doses of mineral
fertilizers.
Cuba has some 350,000 farmers engaged in food production
for a population of 11.2 million.
Cuba imports each year 80 percent of its food, with a
bill fluctuating between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
The revival of agriculture to increase food production
on the island is considered an "urgent challenge" and a matter of
"national security", Rodriguez said.
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