Guantánamo – The newly born Baracoa Agroindustrial Company faces the challenge of changing the image of the former Acopio (Agro-industrial Collection), which never managed to work efficiently or received public recognition.
Fidel Cobas Floirán, director of the aforementioned entity, specified that it brings together what were the Acopio (Agro-industrial Collection) and Miscellaneous Crops systems, along with the livestock, veterinary, and agricultural sectors.
Cobas Floirán explained that they intend to work in a coordinated manner and reorganize the agricultural markets, especially after the damage caused by Hurricane Oscar in October of last year to the municipality’s food supply.
Regarding this reorganization, he mentioned that an agreement was reached to purchase agricultural products from self-employed workers in municipalities of Guantánamo and other eastern provinces, a fact that results in a greater supply in local markets and retail outlets.
He added that cassava is currently being harvested in Mandinga, and other foods will then be collected for distribution to where they are most needed.
The recovery of beekeeping will be slow, he specified, as currently, Baracoa has only fifteen of the more than eighty hives planned for the end of the year. These hives would be the basis for an initial phase of honey production, using hundreds of existing hives.
The director of the Baracoa Agroindustrial Company noted that livestock farming here is in clear decline and that the goal is to maintain buffalo farming, of which there are approximately 170 in various stages of development, while the goal is to build a micro-dairy for these animals to improve milking conditions.
