Nearly 95 percent of the soils with low fertility and more than 26,000 hectares of cultivable land in Guantanamo affected by salinity, this province undertakes actions aimed at mitigating the effects of desertification and drought that threatens the territory, other parts of the country and the Caribbean region.
The change of productive paradigms, the use of biofertilizers and environmental education are some successful actions developed in the UBPC Eliomar Noa in the Imías municipality, the first site in Cuba that initiated sustainable land management, according to the OP-15 project led by United Nations.
Profitable results also have the Credit and Services Cooperative “Enrique Campos,” which in recent years increased its production by 60 percent thanks to conservation agriculture, the use of efficient microorganisms and a modern irrigation system.
Likewise, the application of measures against drought acquires particular relevance in the Baitiquirí Ecological Reserve, where the sowing of the Neem tree prevents the degradation of the soils of that area, located in the so-called Cuban semi-desert.
The Provincial Soil Laboratory contributes to these achievements from the production each year of some 4 thousand tons of Rhizobium, Phosphorine and Azotobacter, natural fertilizers that allow plants to better assimilate the nitrogen and phosphorus available in the soil.
Other initiatives are promoted by the Provincial Delegation of Agriculture, where Guantanamo environmentalists and young informatics develop a digital portal for information on the causes of desertification and drought, in addition to visualizing results and educating on the subject.
In Guantanamo, actions for the benefit of soils and against desertification and drought allowed from the beginning of the millennium and until 2015 to benefit more than 13 thousand hectares of fruit trees, various crops, coffee and other lines of importance for food security in the province.
Translation: Lliubis Balart