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No incentives, more pressure, less money - no wonder they go for other crops... Pinar del Río has the lowest tobacco planting plan in many years Of the 16,373 hectares previously announced, now that Cuban province will have only 13,921 hectares planted. DDC Pinar del Río 26 Dic 2021 - 11:31 CET https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1640514708_36418.html Pinar del Río will reduce tobacco planting by more than 2,450 hectares for the 2021-2022 season, announced the authorities of Agriculture in the province, which regularly produces around 65% of this crop in Cuba. According to the official newspaper Granma, when the planting of this plant began in October, the main export of Cuban agriculture, a plan of 16,373 hectares had been announced, a figure more than 570 hectares higher than that of the harvest of 2021. However, Ortelio Rodríguez Perugorría, Deputy Delegate of Agriculture in Pinar del Río, announced that despite this forecast, a significant group of areas have been reduced, so that now the province aspires to reach around 13,921 hectares. This, the official said, is the lowest planting plan in a long time. According to the report, this downward adjustment occurred due to the deficit of fertilizers and other inputs that ensure the development of plantations. Likewise, Rodríguez Perugorría said that the vegas that historically have provided the highest quality leaves and registered the best yields will be prioritized. And although he reported that the state of the crop so far is favorable thanks largely to the climate, he said that in August the damage caused to the seedbeds by the rains of Hurricane Ida as well as the "resource limitations" forced to transfer the planting of about 3,000 hectares for the month of January, outside the optimal planting stage. The note does not clarify whether among the factors that explain the decrease in planting is the measure adopted by the state-owned Tabacuba to reduce from 5% to 3% of the Freely Convertible Currency (MLC) that tobacco growers can access as a "stimulus" and only for the tobacco produced that the company considers "exportable". This decision, and the consequent increase in the risk of investment in such a fragile and laborious crop, has made Cuban vegueros, already dissatisfied with the high cost of the inputs needed to produce tobacco and the insufficient amount paid by the company for the crops. , which for many makes the effort unsustainable, they are forced to bet on other crops.