-DATE-
19910518
-YEAR-
1991
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
-AUTHOR-
-HEADLINE-
Castro Delivers Speech on ANAP Anniversary
-PLACE-
CARIBBEAN / Cuba
-SOURCE-
Havana Cuba Vision Network
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS-LAT-91-101
-REPORT_DATE-
19910524
-HEADER-
BRS Assigned Document Number: 000007599
Report Type: Daily Report AFS Number: FL2205192691
Report Number: FBIS-LAT-91-101 Report Date: 24 May 91
Report Series: Daily Report Start Page: 2
Report Division: CARIBBEAN End Page: 8
Report Subdivision: Cuba AG File Flag:
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Language: Spanish
Document Date: 18 May 91
Report Volume: Friday Vol VI No 101
Dissemination:
City/Source of Document: Havana Cuba Vision Network
Report Name: Latin America
Headline: Castro Delivers Speech on ANAP Anniversary
Author(s): President Fidel Castro at a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary
of the National Association of Small Farmers, ANAP, Peasant's Day,
and the 32d anniversary of the Agrarian Reform Law, at the 17 May
Cooperative in Quibican , Havana on 17 May-- recorded]
Source Line: FL2205192691 Havana Cuba Vision Network in Spanish 0122 GMT 18
May 91
Subslug: [Speech by President Fidel Castro at a ceremony marking the 30th
anniversary of the National Association of Small Farmers, ANAP,
Peasant's Day, and the 32d anniversary of the Agrarian Reform Law,
at the 17 May Cooperative in Quibican, Havana on 17 May-- recorded]
-TEXT-
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1. [Speech by President Fidel Castro at a ceremony marking the 30th
anniversary of the National Association of Small Farmers, ANAP, Peasant's Day,
and the 32d anniversary of the Agrarian Reform Law, at the 17 May Cooperative
in Quibican, Havana on 17 May-- recorded]
2. [Text] Dear Comrades: Do not be frightened thinking that I am going to make
a long speech here. Comrade Lugo was telling me yesterday that the ceremony
would be held at 1730 and he invited me to participate. I asked at what time it
would be held and he said at 1730. I said: Do not worry because I will be there
at 1730.
3. It is a simple celebration. I would say [words indistinct] of these times.
It is the 30th anniversary of the ANAP, is that not so? And how many years
since the agrarian reform?
4. [ANAP President Orlando Lugo Fonte responds: 32] Thirty-two. You did not
mention it. You forgot about the agrarian reform. You only remembered the ANAP.
I was telling [Victorino] Lemus [first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
in Havana Province], Lemus, there is also the other anniversary, of the
Agrarian Reform Law.
5. That is why I was saying these are two very important anniversaries. We are
marking them with simplicity in line with the times and the need to work. I was
thinking everyone worked until 1730 today, 17 May, because we cannot lose an
hour, not even a minute, especially these days. In spite of that, the date is
no less important for us inasmuch as the revolution began with the Agrarian
Reform and the big, extensive, and incessant changes that have taken place in
our countryside. Lugo mentioned some of them when he talked about schools,
hospitals, roads, and (?housing), when he talked about electricity, which has
now reached almost everywhere, including the mountains. When cables do not
reach, a minipower plant is built to solve the situation. That is a more
reliable [chuckles] source because it does not need fuel. [passage indistinct]
all the technical assistance, the credits, the support given to the peasants
every time there was a disaster, pests, hurricane, or vast flooding.
6. Peasants were never forgotten [words indistinct] are lacking nothing. Many
things are guaranteed to them, considering our limitations. Above all, they
have freedom, dignity, participation in the work of the revolution--which at
this time has turned into a work of universal historic importance--and the
defense of the most just ideas. It involves us in all those dreams our
liberators fought for. Our peasants participated in them in a very decisive
way. I am referring to the wars for independence and the latest struggles for
national liberation.
7. As Lugo was saying, we are now going through the special period. We face
many limitations. Of course, in the last 48 hours, I have spent 16, 17 hours
with the peasants. I met with agriculture workers and managers. On 15 May, we
had a national meeting on livestock that lasted 11 hours. All the managers of
livestock enterprises of the country were present, basically the milk and meat
producers, as the state has a large presence in that. Comrade Lugo and the
ANAP representatives were also present at the meeting in which we analyzed the
problems. We were discussing what to do in a situation in which we have a third
of the fertilizers we normally had, what to do when we do not have mixed feed.
We do not have mixed feed, we do not have grain. We were discussing what to do
when we are receiving the equivalent of [figure indistinct] fewer liters of
milk per year than we used to receive through the GDR with which we had
agreements to exchange torula yeast for powdered milk as a result of
investments we made there, and what we should do with large amounts of milk
that also came as condensed milk, powdered milk, or butter.
8. We used to receive 16,000 tons of milk from the USSR, and we no longer
receive them. What should we do to solve the problems precisely when we have
less fertilizer than ever and [words indistinct], when the resources to obtain
those goods in other places are very scarce. It is a very complicated and
difficult problem but nobody is discouraged here by the complications or
difficulties.
9. In that meeting we analyzed and discussed the situation and implemented a
number of measures. They were not abstract measures, but grew out of our
experiences, using the experiments conducted in our research centers and our
countryside. Our revolution has developed a type of mixed feed from sugarcane
which is called sacharina. That is the end product from very recent research
results.
10. Our revolution already has some leguminous plants that have also been
tested recently, such as wisteria and leucaena, to give two examples. Our
revolution has had for some years the ideas and experiences of Guasan's
rational grazing. Guasan was a distinguished French agricultural specialist and
researcher who, as a matter of fact, died in our country. His books were
published and distributed here in the early days. Of course, that was when our
country did not have the number of engineers and technicians it has today. The
techniques are much more developed now. They are much better known.
11. So, we are going to face the livestock-related problems, the lack of
fertilizers and grains, mainly with the implementation [words indistinct] of
rational grazing. We already have over 300 units working with the improved
rational grazing system. That requires materials. It requires electric fences.
[Words indistinct] you can imagine the number of posts and the amount of [words
indistinct]. We are already making the electric fence equipment. We spend about
$30 and buy components for the electric fences. We later use a galvanized wire
which we developed here after getting the raw material.
12. We intend to implement the rational grazing system in over 6,000 units
from now to the end of the year. [Words indistinct] all the dairy farms. As I
told you a minute ago, the electric fence is essential so that we do not have
to fill the cattle farms with fences. We need to place posts at a certain
distance from each other and one wire takes the electric current and gives the
cow a small electric shock. Pretty soon the cow learns not to go over the
fence. Of course, knowledgeable people are required for that, people to make
the calculations, skilled laborers such as the ones we already have on our
cattle farms. They need to know where and when to move the herds. The most
important thing is that the entire herd goes over the area and does not leave
any grass. Scientists say all types of grass are good, but animals select them
on their own. If the herds are taken through an area in three or four groups
for three or four days or less, [words indistinct] grass.
13. They also fill the soil with manure, which serves as fertilizer, and with
urine, which also serves as fertilizer. If a certain level of humidity is
available--which is not good for other crops--it makes the grass grow. This
perfected system doubles the number of (?animals) per hectare and increases
milk and meat production. Our problem is to build the electric fences and place
all the posts. Our problem is to train the staff that has to direct the
grazing. Our problem is to obtain the wire. There is electricity almost
everywhere, but our problem is also to develop small mechanisms that can
produce electricity from the wind for the electric fence. That can practically
double [words indistinct]. These are tremendous resources to use during and
after the special period.
14. That is not the only thing we are doing. We are already developing
leguminous plants for what we call protein banks. A cow that can eat a ration
of wisteria or leucaena can produce up to 10, 11, and 12 liters without mixed
feed. Of course, we are increasing that quickly. We had a few caballerias, a
few tons last year. We produced about 10 tons. Now we produce about 100. We are
going to have over 1,000 caballerias of wisteria. We would need much more.
Together with the leucaena we will have a total of perhaps 2,000 caballerias
this year. Next year, we can plant 10,000 as we collect seeds. We collect seeds
from each one of these crops and we later give it to the cattle and [words
indistinct] at full speed. We are not going to stop collecting a single
wisteria and leucaena seed while we study other leguminous plants. That is our
second resource, and it is an important resource because, in addition,
leguminous plants produce nitrogen. Leguminous plants [words indistinct] a
bacteria in the soil that gets nitrogen from the air. It does not have to be
produced industrially. It does not have to be transported. They enrich the
soil with nitrogen and enrich the grass with protein, which is essential for
the production of milk. That is the second resource.
15. The third resource is extremely important: the sacharina I mentioned
before. We plan to plant at least... at least one caballeria of sugarcane on
each cattle farm. We plan to plant one caballeria and more in some cases. We
are going to have more land if grass yields twice as much and we can plant
sugarcane. We can fertilize that cane with the cattle farm's manure. Without
many problems [words indistinct] 90,000 or 100,000 arrobas per caballeria. We
should plant good cane. We already have part of it. The idea is to have an area
planted with sugarcane in each cattle farm. You, the ones who are members of
this cooperative, know what the sugarcane yields. You do not have the vanguard
status for nothing. You know that sometimes it yields over 100,000 arrobas.
16. We plan to have a little machine on each cattle farm and a little engine
to mill the cane. We then mix it with urea and other mineral salts. A
fermentation process takes place in 24 hours. This enriches cane with protein.
[Passage indistinct] This is processed cane. We plan to make over 6,000 little
machines, which we are already makeing here, to mill the cane. We are planning
to buy the engines. We are discussing whether to use electricity or diesel. We
are doing estimates on fuel costs, how much the electric engine costs from the
time the fuel is taken to the thermoelectric power plants, electricity is
produced, it is transmitted, and it is converted into mechanical energy again.
We are trying to figure out above all what is the most practical thing; the
electrical engine or the other one. That is being studied [words indistinct]
all the conclusions. I was going to tell you earlier that we are going to build
4,000 electric fences. We have already produced a certain amount. We are going
to have 1,000 in reserve; 1,000 electric fences in reserve.
17. So, we will have these three resources. You know that if you have a
caballeria [words indistinct] can give 25 or 30 arrobas of milled cane enriched
with protein, which is developed with this fermenting process if you add the
mineral salts I referred to earlier to the cane. Thirty pounds of cane for a
cow that is also eating grass and some leguminous plants is considerable. There
will be fresh grass that the cow itself in a certain way has fertilized and
irrigated when the herd went by.
18. Of course, it is very important to take water to [words indistinct] we
also have studied the solution to that. A team of oxen can take tanks [words
indistinct]. There is something more: hoses to take plenty of water. It is
important that cows have plenty of water. Part of that water is consumed by
cows but another part returns to the soil. It turns into [words indistinct]
irrigates cubic meters of soil without spending fuel. We are going to make a
few thousands of kilometers of hoses--perhaps 10,000 or more--to take water to
each corral in an economical way. There are plans to build dams, tanks, wells
(?of various types), [words indistinct] and we are going to make a few
thousands to transport water. You can see that an arroba of cane a day can be
given to 900,000 animals with 3,000 caballerias of cane. Assuming the cattle
farm has 300 animals [words indistinct] a cattle farm of 120 cows. We are also
going to take the concept of an integral cattle farm so that calves are raised
there [words indistinct] up to a certain age.
19. A man can cut 300 arrobas of cane a day. There is no need to use a machine
there. Some 3,000 men can take care of that arroba for 900,000 animals. We
discussed those plans at length. We worked on them. They are already being
implemented. All the appropriate organizations are implemeting them. An attempt
is being made to get at least 6,000 units--not only cattle farms but
calf-raising centers and others--to implement all those techniques by 31
December. That includes the electric fence and the rational grazing system. We
are estimating the number of posts that need to be build. We are going to use
some of the existing ones. The periphery fence will be the only one left. We
need the posts and we need to place them to install the electric fence every
day.
20. We will have animals working for man and not have man working for animals
as we have been doing up to now. We need to get the animals to irrigate and
fertilize the land. We need to get animals to plant. You may ask: How? Yes, if
the plant seeds are spread in the field and animals are made to step over it
they will cover them. We are going to plant many, thousands of caballerias
with plant seeds. That requires minimal preparation of the soil and it will
eliminate the use of fuel.
21. The animals will irrigate, plant, and fertilize the soil. They eliminate
all the grass. They do not leave any type of weeds because they eat them when
they go in herds.
22. Well, I give you all these examples so that you can have an idea that
there are resources and possibilities of working things out. The leguminous
plants will be a source of protein. We will use zeolite with manure. We will
look for some of our mines which, although they have little phosphorous, they
can help to enrich the land with a little bit of phosphorous and calcium. We
have studied the soils everywhere and know where a little more or a little less
is needed. Sometimes the product is there but a certain level or a certain
condition is needed in the soil so that it can be used efficiently.
23. There will be practically no mixed feed or fertilizers for cattle. In
spite of this, we plan to bring about a revolution with all this. Fertilizers
need to be kept for other basic crops such as the sugarcane. We cannot stop
using at least a little bit of nitrogen. We are going to use all the collection
centers' ashes, which have phosphorous, potassium, and mineral salts. We are
going to put them back into the fields. We are going to use filter cake
[cachaza] and nitrogen to enrich the soil. We need to save urea for the rice
fields, to give it with molasses to the animals that are being fattened. Do not
forget that sugarcane not only gives us sacharina but also molasses as a
by-product. Proteinaceous molasses is used to feed pigs. Molasses with urea is
used to feed meat-producing animals. Sugarcane is a crop that yields a lot per
hectare. You can see that a caballeria can yield 25 pounds a day to 300
animals for a year. A little fertilizer for cane and rice is essential. We are
seeing how we can use it better, if some can be in the form of urea from
leaves, even if it is a minimal part, a small percentage. It is not like cane,
which allows a greater percentage of urea from leaves. A little phosphorous and
potassium fertilizer is needed in the poorest soils. Fertilizer is needed for
the production of direct food such as plantains, potatoes, tubers, and
vegetables. We have no other choice than to use there the little fertilizer
that is available.
24. We have been analyzing all these things extensively. We have been looking
for formulas. Yesterday, we held a meeting with the Havana Province
cooperatives. [Words indistinct] and enterprises like the miscellaneous crops
enterprises and representatives of other enterprises of Havana Province were
there. The top 15 farmers were invited. They were selected from among the best.
Gomez, one of the Gomez brothers, was among them. He is one of the best
farmers in this province. They were there in that meeting. We were analyzing
the problems related to the production of tubers and vegetables for the
capital. I was telling them that we had 2.1 million inhabitants for which we
need to provide food every day. [Words indistinct] because the other provinces
have their own needs. In addition, there is transportation. Our goal should be
to [words indistinct] with the land we have available.
25. We need to increase productivity, tend the crops much better. We have to
fight against serious obstacles. One of the situations that have taken place
and you have been able to notice is that the winter months are warmer each
year. It is said that these phenomena have originated from the increase of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of the consumption of coal, oil,
fossil fuels, etc. That is bringing about a warming effect in the atmosphere.
All peasants know very well that [word indistinct] needs cold weather, and
potato crops need cold weather. Many of the winter crops need cool weather. We
use to have 30, 35, and almost 40 cold fronts. They brought cold air. Pollution
was the only blight we used to get.
26. Now there are only 10, 11, 12, [words indistinct] cold fronts. January is
as warm as April or May. Alternaria leaf spot comes and hits potato, tomato,
onion, and even carrot crops, many crops. It is a fungus, is a strong enemy,
which forces us to make special efforts to see which measures we need to take.
We search for more resistant varieties that are easier to grow. Irrigation
needs to be increased to make the environment cooler. If we used to irrigate
every six or seven days, now with the increase of pests we need to irrigate
every three or four days. These warm years work against production and force us
to make special efforts.
27. We are developing biological controls. The white fly did a lot of damage
last year. This year it was practically contained in the countryside through
biological controls. In the same way there are negative bacteria, fungi, and
viruses, there are positive bacteria, fungi, and insects. They help combat
pests that attack crops.
28. We discussed all these problems yesterday. We also discussed spring
planting. Tomatoes planted in the spring hardly pays for itself. It is almost
impossible for it to pay for itself. If it suffers during the winter months
what it has suffered [words indistinct] we must plant other crops, like beans,
okra, eggplant, garlic [words indistinct] herbs, squash, [words indistinct]
cucumbers. During these months the heat increases and weeds grow extremely
quickly. In spite of the enormous effort made and the thousands of Havana
residents who have been mobilized, the fight against weeds is very difficult.
29. During the months of April we need to plant and weed and in May we have to
plant and weed. Yesterday we analyzed each crop, each caballeria. We figured
out how many have been planted and how many need to be planted from now to the
end of the month. We talked about how we have to harvest now and how we have to
plant and fight against weeds. We discussed how plantain crops are going,
plantains with surface and aerial microject irrigation. It is going quickly,
but it is not going to give us plantains in the second half of the year. All
new plantain plants that are planted in March, April, May, June, and July will
not yield plantains for a year. Nevertheless, enormous efforts need to be made
in weeding. I found a group of the Blas Roca Contingent's 30th Brigade that
since December [words indistinct] has weeded [words indistinct] 12 times. An
enormous effort is being made.
30. Now many people in Havana are beginning to understand the effort needed to
weed, to produce those foods, to fight against weeds, to harvest with the heat
and humidity of this country. Humidity does not help. Of course, as you know
and Lugo might have said, the revolution gave many opportunities to everyone,
all kinds of opportunities. [Words indistinct] the children of peasants,
agriculture workers, cooperative members [words indistinct] because we had
38,000 hectares of miscellaneous crops. Now we have added 4,000 more hectares
which used to be planted with cane. This year we have asked for 300 caballerias
that used to be for sugarcane. We had already transferred 450, [corrects
himself] 750 caballerias from sugarcane to miscellaneous crops in the province.
Despite that, sugar production has not dropped. The sugar industry workers have
managed to increase yields. We plan to continue increasing yields. We will
have plot drainage system [words indistinct] we even have one caballeria,
almost one test caballeria with aerial microjet irrigation to see what it
yields. That was in Artemisa. It was planted recently. The sugar industry
sector has transferred us 750 caballerias. We now have 42,000 hectares.
31. Different things need to be planted when a sugarcane field is changed from
one year to the next [words indistinct] so that it is not affected by the
cane's residual herbicides. We have 42,000 hectares. Over 9,000 will be planted
with plantains. They will all have irrigation systems: bananas and plantains.
[Passage indistinct] plantains with aerial microjet irrigation is like building
a city. Each caballeria requires over 800 posts and [figures indistinct]
kilometers of underground pipe and above-ground hose. It is a very modern
technique. We are really working with the most modern techniques in the world,
trying to get increased productivity. [Words indistinct] research centers
searching for varieties, searching for fungi and bacteria for the biological
control of pests. [Words indistinct] possible for our country to develop into
a great producer of these products for the biological control of pests. It will
be one of the country's fields of development, as medicine is turning out to
be. It will be medicine for plants, but not through pesticides or poisons. We
need to use those poisons as little as possible because many times those
products are passed on to people even when measures are taken.
32. That is why the work of scientists looking for biological controls of
pests is so important. The sugarcane industry workers use the famous [words
indistinct] fly, I think it is called, against the borer. It would be
impossible to spray the cane with pesticides. It would be extremely expensive
to spray 30,000 caballerias of sugarcane to fight the borer. We defend
ourselves from other diseases by using resistant varieties. We also need to do
that with plants. Research centers are working [words indistinct] biological
control. They are working on developing bacteria and fungi that get nitrogen
from the air.
33. I already told you that leguminious plants have rhizomes, but gramineous
plants can have (?sotobacteria). We are studying the number of fermenting
machines we have in the country to produce torula yeast or other things and to
produce millions of liters with (?sotobacteria) which can also be used to
fertilize plants, vegetables, and gramineous plants. Some dozen
(?sotobacteria) have been isolated that are useful for [words indistinct]
develop each type according to the soil and the variety of cane. Researchers
(?have isolated) dozens, and our problem now is how to multiply those bacteria
through [words indistinct] store it in liquid form and spray it on sugarcane.
34. So, our science is having an impact. Who would have said 30 or 32 years
ago when the agrarian reform began that today we would have dozens of thousands
of scientists, engineers, all types of technicians, dozens of research centers
that would be doing such things? They are looking for microorganisms instead of
pesticides to fight pests, looking for microorganisms that produce nitrogen or
turn other elements in the soil into usable substances instead of chemical
fertilizers.
35. That is the type of thing we have to do these days, and we are doing them.
We are also breaking in 100,000 oxen. As soon as we are done we are going to
break in 100,000 more. Instead of eating oxen we have to turn them into working
animals. We always try to bring in something else, such as poultry. We will
find something to replace that meat. For now, at least 200,000 animals that are
suitable for slaughter have to be used to play the role of tractors. If we find
ourselves with more fuel problems we are not going to raise our hands or give
up. We will never do that. We will be doing all these things to face the
unexpected difficulties that have come up [words indistinct] which are already
known. While the Yankees sharpen their teeth [words indistinct] we work without
rest and without respite and without losing a minute. I say that we cannot lose
a single minute. To you, farmers, I say we cannot lose a second, much less now
during these decisive months.
36. We already had May Day during the month of May. It was a wasted day from a
production point of view. The day before and the day after were also wasted. If
people were mobilized [for the rally] the day before and the day after, 48 more
hours were wasted. We later had a very beautiful day which was Mother's Day,
but students and everyone were mobilized to their homes. It is a logical thing.
That leaves the days before and after with a decreased productivity. We were
counting the [words indistinct] the caballerias that were not planted,
harvested, or weeded. [applause]
37. Now with Peasant's Day we said: Let us hope that people do not stop
working, because if they do we will have wasted May. May cannot be wasted. The
rains that fall in this southern area come now. Between the heat, weeds, and
rain, the situation becomes serious. An idea has returned to my mind, an idea
that I mentioned Lugo might have said before, and that I did not complete.
Everyone's children went off to school, to the pre-university schools, to
schools for teachers, professors, physicians, engineers, technicians, and
everything, officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Ministry and Interior
Ministry. Nobody was left. That is a reality. Those are life's
inconsistencies. That wonderful thing that everyone could go to school made
many people give up the idea of working in the countryside.
38. You have no idea how many have gone to the city and other places. They
have become professionals. We run the risk of having a society of
intellectuals. Now we have had to mobilize people from Havana.
39. There are many people from the eastern provinces among them. I run into
them and I joke with them. I say: Now you are going to live in one of those
towns. You are crazy about the new towns we want to build, because they are
going to be very pretty. There are married couples and all those who are
thinking about moving to the towns, because that agricultural enterprise with
1,700 caballerias has 1,900 agricultural workers. That is barely one worker per
caballeria. There were many enterprises that had less than one worker per
caballeria.
40. People come here from Havana, and I run into those people from the eastern
provinces, and I say: Before you lived 1,000 km away [words indistinct] now you
are going to live 35 km away. You have come quite a bit nearer the capital. But
they are there, in the capital. You better be careful [words indistinct]
because we will take away the medal we gave to the national vanguard workers.
[words indistinct] live in the countryside. [applause]
41. But it is beneficial. You should see the things they have been building.
They have been working. I had no idea that the workers from the eastern
provinces could work so hard. I thought that the people from Villa Clara
Province worked more than those from the eastern provinces, but I have
discovered that they are phenomenal, especially because they go through the
transformation [words indistinct] They form a contingent and acquire the habit.
They are redoubtable, because the people from the eastern provinces were known
as warriors in the eras of independence and invasions and all those things.
They always liked that a lot.
42. After the revolution, in addition to war they liked the invasions [words
indistinct] were another kind of invasions [words indistinct] in Havana. And
now they love the new towns, because the towns are going to be wonderful, in
the style of the Olympic Village, and they will not cost any more. With the
same materials and the same things, only with better and prettier designs, they
are going to be much more human towns. But now we have to do all this. We must
build from 10,000 to 12,000 houses to bring in new people, who will not return
to the city, but pull the weeds. It is not like with sugarcane, where we have
machinery to solve the problems for us. There are machines to take the place
of 300,000 cane cutters. Now, tomatoes must be picked one by one, or when you
plant cucumbers and three little leaves this big come up, and weeds are growing
right beside them, and you do not know which are the weeds and which are the
cucumbers.
43. I have seen the people from Havana [words indistinct] making a great
effort, people who worked in offices working 10 and 12 hours a day, pulling
weeds by hand. There are no machines to do that, or for the boniato vines. You
have to cut the boniato vines. In order to plant one caballeria of boniato, you
need 600,000 vines and 200 workers cutting vines in one day to plant one
caballeria. After planting the 600,000 vines in that one caballeria, it is
natural that the planting would be done well, the field would be well tended.
44. The Gomez brothers' technique would be used, because they have their
boniato there. I have visited it. They produce even the seeds. They have their
technique for (?harvesting) the seeds. It would require a long explanation and
I do not want to run on a lot. They produce the seeds. They get 10,000
quintals. That is why they are among the very outstanding farmers. Not all are
like that. Not all farmers have the same knowledge, the same experience, but
there are some very outstanding ones in different crops, and we more or less
keep them in mind. [words indistinct] when we want to know what you can get
from a hectare, how you should do it, in what way [words indistinct] They are
very knowledgeable. I would say that each of the farmers, what they have on
their farms, those outstanding farmers--and there are a few dozen in this
province, just as there are also some very outstanding cooperatives--always
[words indistinct] research. They are also scientists, just like the
outstanding cooperatives, the outstanding enterprises. We must watch for that.
45. But if you plant up to 600,000 boniato vines to get a bit over a pound
from each vine, you get 10,000 quintals. It is nothing to get 3,000. That is
equivalent to three caballerias. I often tell the comrades of the miscellaneous
crops enterprises to look at the Gomez brothers' boniato fields there. They
plant potatoes, and they have spent 20 years rotating potatoes and boniato on
the same land. They get very high potato harvests even in bad years. This
year, which was bad because of all the problems I mentioned caused by the
weather, they harvested less than what they traditionally harvest, but they got
[number indistinct] quintals per caballeria. They have good techniques, a good
level of fertilization. They use a little more fertilizer than usual. That
gives results, but now we have to continue to investigate what to do if we have
less fertilizer. In any case, if we have to give someone the fertilizer they
need, [words indistinct] who get the maximum from that fertilizer.
46. But, well, I was talking about the efforts that must be made, and [words
indistinct] There are no machines for planting yuca, so it must be done by
hand. In past centuries they invented slavery, annihilated the Indians, and
brought Africans here. They enslaved them [words indistinct] to make them do
what we have to do. The developed countries bring in people from the Third
World. In Europe they bring in Turks, people from Algeria and those African
countries, to do the hardest work. In the United States they bring in Haitians
and Mexicans, Latin Americans. There are hundreds of thousands, millions.
47. When [words indistinct] hard work, and there they work with air
conditioning. [words indistinct] tens of thousands of Mexicans growing
vegetables. But what is the temperature there now, in May? It is 15 degrees.
That is like working in air conditioning. But here, how hot is it? It is 30
degrees. What is the relative humidity? It is 85 or 90 percent. [words
indistinct] planting boniato, 600,000 plants per caballeria. Do you understand?
48. We have to be aware of that reality. Who is going to do it? We are. Who
can do it? We can. That is why I respect that I am inspired by many comrades
who have come to the capital and become intellectuals, even doctors and
everything, planting boniato. They come for two weeks. There are some who have
come four times a year to do it. They really work. I have never seen the
voluntary workers working as they are now. You know that. I know it because I
visit the camps and talk with them. I know that at 0530 they are up. We have
tried to create the best possible living conditions for them, but they have to
do hard work.
49. These are our realities. That is how we have to produce our food, but we
are not going to become discouraged by it. I think we have enough energy and
courage, and good enough health, because in spite of the fact ....[changes
thought] The ones who did this work before were the pariahs, the unemployed,
and often immigrants were brought in from Haiti and Jamaica for the hard work.
But as the population grew, it was Cubans who did the work, but Cubans who were
going hungry, the unemployed, for a much lower population. Now we have to
ensure milk for the children [words indistinct] and malanga for each one. We
must ensure food for the entire population.
50. That is why we have to make this effort, and ask everyone to make a great
effort. Yesterday we asked it of all the agricultural workers, the cooperative
members, the farmers. On 23 May we will have a meeting [words indistinct]
credit and service cooperatives. So we are coordinating the efforts of the
state enterprises, the enterprises, the cooperatives, and the independent
farmers in this historic task of providing for the capital. We are already
producing much more, but it is not enough. I have already mentioned the
problems we have had with some crops and the climate. Although we are producing
more, it is not enough.
51. It is thought that perhaps by September there will be about 200,000
quintals of bananas per month. We have to reach at least [number indistinct]
quintals per month, when we have all the plantations in operation. We will see
if we get 600,000 quintals. [words indistinct] The capital still needs a great
effort, sacrifices by the people in the provinces who have to send us [words
indistinct] more than half of what is consumed [words indistinct] honor of the
farmers and agricultural workers of Havana Province to provide not only for the
700,000 inhabitants (?in the province)--this is more or less what there is--but
also the 2.1 million inhabitants of the capital. Almost 3 million people must
be provided for. It requires a serious, technical, organized, efficient,
productive effort. Is that clear?
52. In addition, the province produces more than 600,000 tons of sugar. There
are more than 100,000 hectares in Havana Province devoted to sugarcane. The
province is a great sugar producer. Although we have taken area away from cane,
we want production to continue to increase through new techniques. [words
indistinct] that is of great relevance, great practical meaning. When I came by
here I passed through the research center. I stopped for three minutes; I think
I arrived late. I slipped into the (?Liliana Dimitrova) Research Center. They
are developing new crop varieties. I was there for a few minutes and I said I
would come back later; I was going to this ceremony.
53. Yesterday I was talking at a cooperative that produces watercress, and I
asked them if any research center was helping them. They said no. That
cooperative, which along with the independent farmers produces about 30,000
quintals, intends to reach 100,000 quintals. Watercress is good; it has iodine
and iron. I went to the (?Liliana Dimitrova), and was talking with the people
there, and the INIFAT [Institute for Basic Research in Tropical Agriculture].
They have to help in developing more productive varieties. They have a good
variety. Each of the crops must be supported by technology and science.
54. It seems that at a time like this, at a stage like this, holding a
ceremony like this one has great meaning, great revolutionary content. It has
been very just to recall the vanguard workers, because the vanguard workers are
like the standard-bearers in battle. They are the ones who set an example for
others. Therefore, I congratulate all those who received awards or decorations;
all the farmers of the agricultural production cooperatives, the miscellaneous
crops cooperatives and those with all crops; all the farmers of the credit and
service cooperatives; and all the agricultural workers and cadres who devote
their efforts to this noble task of producing food for the people.
55. That is why we also say, with more conviction than ever: Socialism or
death, fatherland or death, we will overcome! [applause]
-END-
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