-DATE- 19690130 -YEAR- 1969 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- CASTRO INAUGURATES ARTIFICIAL BREEDING CENTER -PLACE- CANGREJERAS, MARIANAO TOWNSHIP, HAVANA PROVINCE -SOURCE- HAVANA DOMESTIC TELEVISI -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19690131 -TEXT- CASTRO INAUGURATES ARTIFICIAL BREEDING CENTER Havana Domestic Television Service in Spanish 2104 GMT Jan 69 F [Speech by Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro inaugurating a housing project and a primary school at Nina Bonita experimental breeding farm in Cangrejeras, Marianao township, Havana Province--live] [Text] Honored guests, comrade workers: In the first place I would like to explain briefly what this plan consists of. I say briefly not so much because it is raining today: well, I hope it will not rain because the influenza going around has not wanted to forgive anyone and everyone has had more or less a ration of it. I had it a few days ago and I still have some of it, but Comrade Milian unexpectedly caught influenza. At the outset I wanted to explain that this plant is called Nina Bonita and some of you may ask why it is called Nina Bonita. Nina Bonita is a pretty name. We did not invent it, however. There was a small production unit by that name here. When we began this experimental plan the Nina Bonita name remained and even the prototype dairy is called Nina Bonita. I want to explain what this experimental animal breeding center consists of. It is a center under development. Two units have practically been completed. A third unit is under construction and 10 additional units are to be built. When completed it will have some 60 caballerias. One of the two units completed is air-conditioned. Why the air-conditioning? We are trying to determine with precision the influence of climate on the production of milk by Holstein cows, under the conditions of the climate in our country. In other words, one unit is air-conditioned and the other is not so that we can make comparisons. This is important to us because Holstein cows, which are the highest milk-producing breed, a breed which originated in Holland, naturally come from a climate which is generally colder than ours. Apparently, semitropic heat conditions always have a certain effect on the breed's milk-production capacity. Of course, our traditional cattle are Zebu, an animal which is resistant to heat and other adverse tropical conditions. In other words, it is an animal which is quite resistant but does not produce milk. We need Holstein cows as foundation stock to develop some new cattle breeds and above all to produce hybrids of dairy cattle and Zebu cattle. Zebu cattle do not produce milk and the little they produce is produced very unwillingly [Castro chuckles] because very often they are fighting, kicking, attacking--I think that after the Miura bulls, the fiercest animals of all are the Zebu. They produce a liter and a half, 2 liters of milk. Practically all cattle in Cuba used to be Zebu. There were some prebreed animals but under conditions of--without any breeding control, there was no plan. Some animals had been imported, without any central breeding plan for cattle. Several thousand Holstein cows have been imported since the triumph of the revolution, as well as several thousand Holstein bulls. At first there were no inseminators and to carry out plans on a certain scale, we had to buy bulls. A bull can serve to maintain a herd of 30, 40, or 50 animals in reproduction. For the purpose of insemination, for example, we have one of the best bulls. Last year this bull produced 22,000 semen doses for insemination, that is 22,000 frozen semen tablets. This means that more than 20,000 cows can be inseminated with the product of a single bull. Of course, this bull was also placed in an air-conditioned unit. Air-conditioning has proved to be of great advantage in semen production. Possibly, without air-conditioning that bull would have produced 5,000 to 6,000 semen doses. This means that air-conditioning more than tripled the production. It is hard to get production like this in a single year. Fortunately, this is one of the best bulls we have, or expect to get. Now many of his calves are being born. We will have to try them, but the mother of this bull produced as much as 46 liters of milk a day. The sire of the bull is also one of the best dairy bulls, that is, as to the production of his calves, that has ever existed. This bull was named Rosafe. We acquired him at the beginning of the revolution. He cost 27,000 dollars. To tell the truth I think they sold us the bull because he was a little old. However, we were able to get several thousand ampoules. Rosafe died about 4 years ago. If I recall correctly, he is still producing offspring from the frozen semen ampoules which have been preserved. We still have almost 200 ampoules of that bull's semen. Very good selections of cows were made and the semen was used on them. One of these cows was the one which produced 48 liters, 46 liters, and fortune had it hat a bull was born in the Taurine family and so we called it Tauro. He reached a weight of 1,232 pounds in 1 year. He now weighs 2,580 pounds, and he is just 2 month shy of 3 years of age. He should weigh almost 2,700 pounds at 3 years of age, and he should pass 3,000 pounds. Therefore, he is large and has great vigor and all we have to do is test his dairy qualities. The offspring of this bull are showing great superiority in development over all the other bulls. He is a son of that famous bull Rosafe. As I was saying, at the outset there was no insemination, or frozen semen, or inseminators. Now the nation has almost 4,000 inseminators. Frozen semen is now used with the most modern techniques. In this way we can continue a breeding program for many years with a breed of bull, even though the bull should die. This is why at first, in order to breed, it was necessary to import several thousand bulls. Of course, they had to be acclimated. Then they had to be mated with Zebus under tropical range breeding conditions and with the handicap of ticks and other parasites which will take time to get rid of through the country. It was very hard to bring about this reproduction but we moved ahead until the introduction of frozen semen. There are more than 1 million Zebu cows in the insemination plant, using very good animals. As I was saying, we also brought in several thousands cows. The job was to get them acclimated. The idea of air-conditioning emerged as a result of the percentage of cows that died in becoming acclimated. They were good, high-production cows but almost 20 percent died. Then the first air-conditioned stables were built in Havana Province and the death rate dropped to zero percent during acclimatization. The optimum climate for Holstein cows is 17 degrees [centigrade]. In an air-conditioned stable the optimum climate can be maintained all the time, without winters or summers. With an artificial climate they can therefore have a better climate than in their country of origin. They do not have to tolerate subfreezing climates and heat exceeding 25, 30, or 35 degrees. Of course, these two stables were for high-priced cows and we incurred very great losses when one of these cows died. We decided to make a test and study yields under air-conditioning and under normal conditions. Thus this factory originated. It is a milk factory, a dairy, which is Nina Bonita No 1, and is air-conditioned. Of course one must weigh the cost, the investment, expenditure in fuel, electricity, increase in production; take account to see whether it is justified to establish more dairies of this kind. Apparently, in my judgment--although we may come to the conclusion that air conditioning is not necessary for this breed--there may be some centers where high producing species will be kept, as there are some which can give 40, 50 liters of milk. It is best to keep them mainly as breeders. And the best way is to keep them in excellent condition, and in the end this center will be maintained, once the difference in production is compared between these cows kept at a constant 17 degrees and cows in natural temperatures, higher in summer and lower in winter. The experiment began here in September. These units have a capacity for a herd of 280 cows. Now what were the results of the first tests? In September the difference between the air-conditioned cows and these without was 3.92 liters; in October the difference was 2.16 liters in favor of those who lived in air-conditioned stables; in November, 1.4 liters; in December, 0.92 liters. In this way, as we draw close to the cold months the difference in production, the advantage of those having air-conditioning barely exceed a liter, less than a liter. This has been the result until now. Tests will continue in February, March, April, May, August. Logically, possibility in the months of June, July, and August, the difference could be increased to between 5 and 6 liters. But a difference of 5 liters means, with 200 cows, 1,000 liters daily. And 1,000 liters a day means in international currency approximately 100 pesos a day. Of course, to learn whether it is justified, all these factors must be well analyzed and researched. In any case, along with this we have observed something quite interesting--production by red cows compared to that of black cows. Some Holstein reds, having had less red parents, were born red--Rosafe was one of these bulls which had red parentage, so that out of every 100 cows, four or five were born red. When this happened, black color dominated over red because when a black and a red mate, the animal is born black. But when a red offspring of a black animal mates with a red offspring of another black animal, the animal has two red parents and is then born red. That is, when a red is born it is because it has two red parents. A more detailed explanation is unnecessary because you understand the combination. We tried to find our what was happening with red cows because they were born so pretty in a center near here. We began to observe the milk production of the blacks and the reds. A very interesting phenomenon was observed. The difference between the blacks and the reds is in favor of the reds. The difference is still greater than between air-conditioned cows and those without it. So that more than 5 liters are gained all the time from the daughter of the same sire and cow of equal quality. A group of blacks were placed with a group of reds. Everything points to the fact that Cuban climate makes the reds more adaptable to resisting heat. Up to this time it seems this way. Also by grouping all the reds, we are beginning to develop the Holstein. Gradually their color can be changed, while maintaining all the other characteristics. These are new possibilities which can almost eliminate the problem of artificial temperature. But the difference has been as much as 4 liters in September. We estimate that it can increase to 5 or 6 liters in August. We will know it when the year is over. These cows are exactly alike in quality, they require the very same feeding and conditions are exactly alike. So we can make a comparison. Nina Bonita also has conducted an experiment where instead of air-conditioning the entire stable, only the head-portion of a small stable is air-conditioned. This installation was named Hipotalamo [animal head] since it is related to the method of glandular production of milk by the cattle, and it is the glands which determine their milking temperment--it is in their heads. There is a theory that all one need do is change the climate around the animal's head. This test was begun a few days ago, six or seven cows are in this environment, stabled over there in a kind of plastic shed, with the rest of the body outside and the head where they eat, drink, do everything there [inside]. [he chuckles] This is a 25 percent expenditure of power needed for air-conditioning--this means using 25 percent of their air needed to condition an entire shed, to keep them in the same temperature conditions. Afterwards we may televise them with cameras for the benefit of the public which does not come here, so they have some idea of what one of these installations is like. It is a very interesting thing. Not only the difference in production, the production which these cows are giving in their first locations--these are heifers that freshened for the first time--an increase of 25 to 30 percent in the second, and 25 to 30 percent in the third. What yield are these cows giving? Even today those in air-conditioning have reached an average of up to 21 liters a day, and the others up to 20 liters. At this time they are close to 19 and 18 plus. Now let's figure milk production. In Nina Bonita 136 cows are producing 2,658 liters a day. That is, they produced this much on 17 January. On the 16th they produced 1,515, on the 15th they gave 1,588, thus they can vary from day to day and, when it is very cold, production may decrease. Factors like rainy days can vary milk production. Counting both units--136 and 134 which are in Nina Bonita--between the two daily production is slightly more than 5,000 liters of milk. And yet not all the cows are producing. There will be 180 to 190 cows producing in each of these units. Let us compute the production of these two units only. By next year on this date they will give about 8,000 liters of milk. Therefore, so that you can have an idea of the production of all these units, although there will be F-1 here because there are other projects that will be done here too, it should attain a production of 30,000 liters of milk when the 12 unites are ready. But this is very conservative estimate, in only 60 caballerias of land. Suffice it to say that in 1975 Havana Province will have 9,500 caballerias producing milk. This gives you an idea of our country's possibilities. Here [feeding] is on the basis of grasses and leguminous plants. This is red earth which accepts alfalfa which grows splendidly. Aside from the tests, all these cows, these heifers, are registered and they were all inseminated with Tauro semen, son of Rosafe. Therefore, all the heifers and calves which have been born, and there are something more than 150 if I remember correctly, are daughters of Tauro, daughters also of these heifers which will attain an average of as much as 20 liters of milk after they are calved the first time. This is genetics, right? In other words, we always select the best specimens, the sons of the best specimens, and continue to propagate the best specimens. This has to be dome in everything, in citrus, in coffee, in everything. In the future, a selection from the best plants around Havana will be made, the plants which produce the best, and we will use their seeds for propagation. Therefore, the possibilities opened by science and technology are really unlimited and we have a very palpable example here. I think that both these dairies next year will exceed an average of 20 liters of milk a day. Perhaps they will attain 23, 24, and it would not surprise me if they attain 25 liters in the second freshening. Now then, we will continue selecting and when the experiments comparing production in a normal and in an artificial climate have been completed, red Holsteins will remain in this unit. Then we will experiment comparing production between red Holsteins, black Holsteins; new units with the offspring of Tauro. Now then, what shall be done with these two partitions of almost 600 high-production cows? One cow will be selected from every two. In other words, not those that give [Castro leaves thought incomplete] When you talk about an average yield of 20 or 21, some produce 25, 26, others produce 27, 16. We will eliminate, remove the ones that produce 16, and send them to other places. We will make a continual selection of the best cows. Therefore, these breeding centers are called upon to become very high production centers and their most important value is not the 8,000 liters of milk which these two units will produce next year, but rather the offspring of those cows with a view toward reproduction throughout the nation. This is clear. We are going to have a rotolacter here, Another thing we are aiming for is the mechanization of milking. In order to maintain a very strict control in this very specialized dairy breeding center we do not want to use mechanical milking. But there is a rotolacter being made in Cuba which is a Circular milking machine to milk the cows of three herds. In the center will be the rotolacter and three herds will be taken there to be milked. New breeds will be sought here too from the cross-breeding of Holsteins, Zebus, native cattle, and also the Santa Gertrudis because we are seeking new breeds and in this search we have worked very carefully because the various combinations are produced and a very careful selection has to be made in order to seek the best characteristics from the animals or the breeds that are crossed. Therefore, there is a program for the development of new breeds here. We will also have a pasturage station on red earth, a pasturage station on black earth, and 25 varieties of gramineous or leguminous grasses or combinations of gramineous and leguminous grasses will be grown here. Therefore, we will have cattle breeding here as well as a study of the mechanization of milking, new breeds will be developed, pasturage will be studied. In short, this will become more than a production center producing a lot of milk. It will be basically a research center on all these matters of interest to livestock work in the nation. The workers of this center will live in this town. Also coming to this town are some university graduated, a physio-pathologist, a geneticist, an agricultural mechanization specialist, a mechanical engineer who will study the entire problem of the mechanization of milking, an economist. We are going to see how this entire community will joint in some work activity. Let us say, the men in one activity, the women in another, in everything that has to do with the care and breeding of calves, a number of activities in which the entire community will join in the work of this breeding center. We also seek to find ways and means of solving the problem of manpower, to think about the participation of the whole community. This is why we have the children's day nursery and the school. Of course, it is a small town. The type of primary school which interests us is not this kind. Later, in the future this school will be for adult education. Naturally, the schools that we consider standard must have a minimum of 300 pupils. Therefore, there will be a primary semiboarding school in the neighborhood for the children of the workers of this unit and of other workplaces. Therefore, this primary would turn out to be too small. But the day nursery would remain and the primary semiboarding school would be near this place. Also being considered here is that the most qualified technical personnel should give instruction to the other workers who are not of that level and that classes be organized at night on the subject of the mechanization of livestock raising and breeding. You must understand perfectly well that all these problems require a [technical] level that cannot be handled, coped with, or solved when they involve machines of a certain complexity, matters of complex technology, matters of genetics which are also complex, botany, all the problems of fertilization, and all the nutritional problems of the animals. All this does not fall within the traditional level for which practically no knowledge was required. The most serious problem we have in livestock raising of the future is the problem of manpower. Livestock raising is certainly not something that can be resolved by volunteers because it is a very constant work, a very punctual work schedule and so it requires a work . . . [Castro leaves thought incomplete] Of course, an indispensable requirement is mechanization of milking. Without the mechanization of milking it would be impossible to solve this problem. We will have herds with millions of dairy cattle. And the fundamental problem in livestock raising, just as in sugarcane, is mechanization [in this case] of milking. At any rate it is encouraging to know that a mechanical milking machine made in Cuba will be tried cut here. We are going to try that type out and we are also going to try out the mechanized milking systems of other nations to see which adapts best to our conditions. We have to look for machines which achieve the highest Productivity although. Productivity achieved in mechanized milking is not as high as achieved in mechanized sugarcane harvesting. In other words, productivity can be tripled but it cannot be increased 10 or 20 times. On the other hand, there is a qualitative change in the type of work: Hand milking is a pretty exhausting physical effort while mechanical milking of cows is almost semi-intellectual semimanual work. And we also need maintenance Personnel for all the installations, to maintain optimum sanitary conditions, and all of that. We must say that all these animals are very healthy animals. There is only one with tuberculosis. There is not a single cow with brucellosis. A job was done throughout the area and we are striving for very healthy livestock where that kind of [disease] animals do not exist. There is no nation with animals free of brucellosis, free of tuberculosis. We propose to raise all these herds completely free of these diseases which are common, like the cold, in livestock the world over. All activities in this center require great care. For example, just in veterinary measures taken here: [Castro reading] Control over the maintenance of sanitary conditions in the milking room, the drains, and other parts of the dairy; periodic diagnostic tests are made to detect mastitis, to cure internal and external parasites the work of the caretaker and inseminator is supervised to achieve better care for the animals; physio-pathological treatment is given to the cows as well as assistance during calving if required. Painstaking attention is paid to the newborn, checking it constantly--almost like a child nursery. Treatment is given at the least symptom of sickness in the cattle; vaccinations for brucellosis and tuberculosis are given to all animals as a standing procedure. Feeding of the calves and older animals is controlled. The veterinary aide's work is supervised to make it the best, both in treatment administered and in the hygienic measures needed. All animals are tagged to specify their place, breed, date of birth, and all movement. There is a sterile zone around the farm, and all these activities are carried cut. So that in essence this experimental breeding center exists with these things in Nina Bonita. We must say that the place is an example of modern farming. We say that this is agriculture of the year 1980. There is much organization, all the windbreaks--all the areas are divided by windbreaks, a protection against drying winds--all the roads, all the pastures are situated equidistant from the cowsheds, geometrically placed so the cattle always go cut in the same direction and walk a minimum. Everything done here follows a plan so that there is no guesswork. The architects study the plan meticulously and depict it like a structure as though they were going to build the [word indistinct], and that is the way every installation is prepared before construction begins. In this center, which is a very successful venture, all organizations participated with great enthusiasm--comrades of the Construction Ministry, comrades of the coordination, execution, and inspection board, the comrades who installed the air conditioning, those of the plastic industry, the electricians, everyone. We can't enumerate them because everyone cooperated in the development of this plan. As architects we had Comrade (Lang) and Comrade Margot del Pozo, a married couple, who have specialized in dairy design and have accumulated much experience; they also organized and located each of the installations. It is also proper to point out the work done here by the comrade who organized it, Comrade Milan, a Rebelde award recipient, who when the cows came here last year, organized the entire agricultural side and the entire operating side, and in our judgment has done work of great quality. [applause] Comrade Milan now goes to another plan which is much larger than this one. It is the Camaguey triangle plan, where 25,000 caballerias will be developed for use as a dairy area. What we wish is that the ideas, the basic concepts, technique, organization, windbreaks the type of pasture, and all the principles which have guided this center, be applied to that gigantic plan, which no doubt will be the largest ever executed in the field of livestock. Camaguey has very good land; it is traditionally a livestock area. We wish to carry all these ideas to that plan. Some day all our livestock will be organized and tended as in this center. We must also say that construction workers made a special effort. In a very short time they did a great job of great quality, We also expect the cooperation of Havana University, which will select the university level team to work here directing research. So we have am essential idea of the plan. Later we will take a tour. We cannot all go. It is not suitable [he chuckles] for a crowd like this one to mill around the little cows, as they become nervous and their milk yield decreases. They are going to be nervous enough with all this noise and all this crowd they have seen around here. They must be a bit amazed. But the television cameras are going to view various places. There is also an air-conditioned shed far imported beef animals which are going to other centers and are temporarily kept here because they arrived during the hot months. They acclimatize without difficulty. This meeting deals with livestock, but we cannot overlook saying something about sugarcane, the situation in view of the 1970 harvest. [applause] We must say that the 1970 harvest and work plan are doing well, but the 1969 harvest plan is not doing so well. What is happening? Everyone is thinking of 1970. All the cadres and organizers are working feverishly with their sights set on the year 1970 in planting plans. In January, 1,700 caballerias of sugarcane have been planted. [applause] That is to say that the 1970 plan is marching at a tremendous pace, but there is delay in the 1969 sugar harvest. The year has a certain rainy characteristic. Good for 1970, but bad for 1969. Early rain can affect the present sugar harvest. Of course the 1970 harvest is quite important and it is quite proper to pay total attention to the 1970 plan, but the 1969 harvest is very important to the economy. We cannot permit a single stalk intended for cutting in 1969 to be left standing. Recently an appeal was made to comrades of the party and administrative organizations for maximum support of the 1969 harvest. One of the provinces which has had to plant much cane is Camaguey. It has the most to cultivate and weed, having planted more than 5,000 caballerias of winter cane, as well as the sugar harvest--it is one of the harvest provinces. We are in danger of leaving some of the cane standing in that province. In the other provinces the matter is a difficult one--we hope that cane will not be left uncut in any province. However, in Camaguey there is some danger that some of it will be left unharvested. A mobilization is being made by comrades of the armed forces to send a quick reinforcement with the slogan: Supply all the Camaguey sugar mills to the hilt. Not a single day can be lost to falling below maximum grinding capacity in all those mills, and a mobilization of workers of the capital is also in progress. The provinces have intense work to do. Everyone must help in the harvest, planting, everything. The reserves of manpower to be mobilized are fundamentally in the capital of the country. Just as on other occasions, such as weeding in the Escambray, Giron, the workers of the capital responded. This year workers from he capital proper had not been sent to Camaguey. It says that they have been working here in Havana. My workers from the capital, exerting great effort, spending 3 or 4 months there. [as heard] The comrades have begun a mobilization by organizations in order to reinforce Camaguey in the 1969 sugarcane harvest. It seems as though the response has been great. If the response has been great, then a rotation can be made. In other words, it will not be for a period that is too prolonged. Instead, an organization can send, let us say 1,000 men for part of the time and then it can rotate them and send another 1,000 men so that the period of time will not be too prolonged. Even so, we must realize that many of these workers are assigned to very important industries and in construction projects. For example, we have had to sacrifice part of the construction work in order to send a reinforcement to Camaguey Province. But a reinforcement will have to be sent to Camaguey by all the industries and administrations. We hoped that this would not have been necessary this year but the accumulation of tasks in that province has been too great. Of course, the first 30 Libertadora combines will be completed in March. An even bigger contribution will be made in 1970 and this will not only be done by the Libertadora combines but also by a type of combine which operates at the state cane collection and preprocessing stations, which are the (Henderson) combines which were designed by the same technician who designed the state cane preprocessing stations. As you know, the collection station receives the cane with the straw (Henderson) designed the complement of this--a machine with blades which is placed in front of a bulldozer. It cuts the cane with the straw, it loads the wagons, and takes them to the collection station. This machine has also been successful. Looking toward 1970 we have reached the decision to send a reinforcement of bulldozers to Camaguey Province with (Henderson) machines attached. It will be necessary to cut 12 million [arrobas of sugarcame] a day. In 1970 we hope to mechanize 50 percent of the sugarcane harvesting in Camaguey though intensive work to be done by industry in building 300 machines to be attached to bulldozers so that they can cur cane for the 136 state cane collection stations in Camaguey. This would mean that in 1970 we will need less men in Camaguey than in 1969. And in 1971, 80 percent of Camaguey's sugarcane harvesting will be mechanized. Of course, we expect to mechanize the harvesting of sugarcane throughout Cuba in the next 5 years. But Camaguey is the crucial point, the place where mechanization has to be done first or else it will become a drag on all the activities of the rest of the nation. All the mobilizations of workers who are doing all these jobs, all these dairies, bridges, installations of all kinds, who suddenly have to leave and go to cut sugarcane slow up the nation's development plans. Certainly, if we achieve the mechanization of 50 percent of Camaguey's sugarcane harvesting by 1970, the situation in the provinces will be eased and then the provinces can accomplish the 1970 sugarcane harvest with their own manpower. The strategy to be followed, aside from the use of the Libertadora combines, is the employment if at all possible, of some 300 bulldozers with the (Henderson) machine in order to mechanize all the sugarcane harvesting for the state collection stations in Camaguey. In other words, step up the cane harvesting mechanization in Camaguey Province because the exceptional mobilizations which have to be made, aside from the sacrifices made by the workers, is a factor which is delaying the rest of the effort that must be made throughout the nation. Once again, at a moment the nation requires it, the workers of the capital will give their support to the solution of this problem which is the point in which our difficulties are centered at this moment in 1969. [applause] The capital of the nation has the largest number of proletarians in the nation--really a considerable number of workers with magnificent morale--and I know that the revolution can count on the capital of the nation, that it can count on the workers of the capital of the nation [applause] as it counted on them in El Escambray, at Giron, and in each one of the situations. We hope we will not have to mobilize anybody, let us say, any worker, for Camaguey Province in 1970. We will have to cut cane in all the provinces, Havana Province not only ought to fulfill its goal for the 10-million-ton harvest, but also exceed it by 250,000 tons. We think that there will be enough sugarcane in Havana Province not only to produce the 700,000-plus tons in the 10-million-ton plan, but also to achieve 1 million tons, which is an overfulfillment of the plan. [applause] The western area usually has good rainfall; a lot of sugarcane has been planted. By the end of 12 months we will have planted something upwards of 5,000 caballerias of sugarcane in this province. A million tons can be produced just with the new sugarcane. We not only hope to reach a million, but to have some caballerias of sugarcame left over [but this does not mean] that they are not ground because of a lack of industrial capacity. Of course we will continue to increase sugarcane production, not in surface area but in yield. Hence, by 1975, we ought to produce 1 million tons of sugar and 800,000 tons of molasses. What is the molasses for? Among other things for the 600,000 dairy cattle Havana Province will have, 600,000 dairy cows in 1975. [hesistant applause, building up] Of course, we will also move toward mechanization in this province. We will set up some collection and preprocessing stations next year. And next to the collection station, inasmuch as the wagons deliver the sugarcane with the cane tops and the straw, next to the collection station will be the little Zebu cattle produced by F-1 cattle, eating straw, came tops, molasses, and area. Therefore, we will also make use of the straw and the cane tassels carried by the cane wagons to the collection station for cattle feed. The same thing will be done in Camaguey. At the present time, Havana Province has 60,000 Zebu cattle which have arrived in the last few months and it will have some 250,000 by year's end. The dairy hybrids will cone from the F-1 [corrects himself]--from the Zebus. Now then, we have to think about how many persons have to pick cane tassels up by hand, how many women are picking cane tops by hand. When we mechanize canecutting in the province we will then proceed to the mechanization of cane tops and the straw too, which stays there and is a good food when complemented with molasses and area. Therefore, we will have some 9,500 caballerias of sugarcane and even an area of almost the same size of pasture. We should have some 600,000 dairy cows and the province will achieve something else, something that seemed difficult some time ago, in the future it will be self-sufficient in meats. [hesitant applause, Castro repeats]--in meats. [applause] It will be done as a matter of fact, with the surplus sugarcane it may produce because of an increase in productivity in the same area of sugarcane. We are not going to exceed 1 million tons, even so, we will have to enlarge the sugarcane mills in this province in order to grind more cane and produce molasses. Not only are we going to use the juice of the sugarcane but also the tassels and the straw, just as the day will come when the bagasse will also be used, and the first froth on the boiled cane juice, and all the products of cane will be utilized. In this manner livestock will blend with sugarcane in the province, and the quantity of milk produced by this province in 1975 will be respectable, respectable. Of course, the enemy also thinks about this. There has been no lack of worm elements in the United States--we know this through statements by some counterrevolutionaries who have infiltrated and were captured--who have been planning sabotage against our livestock and spreading disease among cur herds. We hope that these despicable persons and those who nurse and protect them will be well advised before falling into such absurdity and madness, which can have very bad results. Let them not try the patience of this people any longer, above all the dirty work they have done, and when they have been unable to defeat it with their criminal blockade, the indecency and crime of every kind produced against a country struggling for its legitimate right to live, they try to follow these same paths, to carry out this kind of epidemiological warfare against our country. We hope above all that the Yankee bosses of the morons who (?scheme) these things will take it on themselves to avoid redoing this kind of thing. It is well for them to know that we know it, and that they know the responsibilities the imperialists have for these things. In the last analysis, we already know the good and evil luck of having imperialism nearby. Bad luck for all its annoyances, and good luck for all it has forced us to work. Good luck for all it has forced us to strain. [applause] Good luck for all it has done to make us fight. This people has developed in a state of contradiction. This people has developed in struggle. These marvels have risen from difficulty and new marvels will rise, more each day. And from the great goals we set ourselves, which we are forced to set partly through the fault of imperialism--although of course I cannot understand how anything can be considered revolutionary without a great effort assigned. If not we must wonder if it is a revolution. It is a human law that man's effort grows in step with his difficulties. Our great goals have contributed to the general development of--this country. Sometimes we have said that this goal of 10-million tons of sugar has made a man of our country. It has made it grow up; made it a giant, as [applause] this sugar harvest of 10-million tons has made us giants. It has made us strain to the limit of our strength. But we will make it. Many days ago an official of the Yankee State Department was beginning to pave the way. He said: Well, there is a remote chance that they will do it, and if they do it, it will tie at a great cost to the economy; great cost for the economy to produce 10-million tons of sugar; almost with the same railroad, practically with the same factories, where the bottlenecks were overcome; double sugar production, with an increase of cane per caballeria, and sugar per caballeria. One must be pedestrian in his reasoning to say that. But it is interesting to see how they say that there is a remote possibility of reaching 10-million tons. We must continue to work hard, to harvest in 1969 without abandoning planting and the crops for 1970. That is, we must not abandon any of 1969 or 1970 either. There will not be a remote possibility, but something more than a possibility of reaching these 10-million tons. Not in terms of possibility, but in terms of mathematical surety. Another thing we will do as soon as this harvest is ended is to give absolute priority to all the sugar mill installations, to complete repairs as soon as possible, to test them before the harvest begins, and begin cutting the first cane in October, testing the mills, and by November attain a daily cut of 30 million arrobas, and cut straight through the final phase of the 18-month year, [applause] and commemorate in a worthy manner and with many holidays in the month of July 1970, [applause[ when our country will have every right to celebrate joyously its success and its work of these years. And now then, the rest of the program will be a brief visit through the installations, and we declare this part ended. Fatherland or death, we will win. [cheering] -END-