Holguín: Increase efforts towards food sovereignty
- Written by Yanela Ruiz González
- Published in Holguin
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Reaching food sovereignty in the face of the acute economic crisis accentuated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and hostile economic, financial and commercial embargo policies, is a recurring issue in government debates to ensure food supply to more than 11 million Cubans, including over a million inhabitants of Holguín province.
Although promoting food production is not a matter of recent occupation, it is urgent to promote alternatives that allow us to obtain essential foods, without having to invest large amounts in imports.
In this sense, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez urged to produce here everything we can to supply ourselves and insisted on the need to put science in function of advancing with the steps that the moment demands, in order to be sustainable.
With this purpose, it was agreed to create productive scientific poles, an instrument with which there was already experience in Holguín province, with results in other branches of the economy.
"In keeping with the country's policy, it was strengthened the Holguín scientific pole, headed by the Governor of the province Julio César Estupiñán Rodríguez and made up of entities such as Citma, Agriculture, Azcuba, Food Industry and the University of Holguín", explains Rigoberto Rivero Durán , coordinator of the Food Programs at the provincial government.
According to Rivero, this pole is aimed at bringing together and promoting the interaction of all the entities dedicated to food production and the development of science, innovation and technology, in order to channel the efforts of research and implementation of scientific results in the areas dedicated to this activity.
In this regard, DrC. Alejandro Torres Gómez de Cádiz, Citma Delegate in the territory said: “We made a survey of all the research on food production and its level of application. This work revealed a group of deficiencies and on this basis we designed a strategy, which we discussed in a meeting with the organizations and researchers in the presence of the government authorities and the Party”.
“We also presented our own work strategy and met representatives from our entities to create an action plan, which was presented to the Governing Council, so that the presidents of municipal assemblies and mayors also appropriated the work guidelines to ensure compliance with this plan in regard to their localities “added Gómez de Cádiz.
The remaining organizations and institutions that make up the Pole also have their work strategies to implement the food sovereignty and Nutrition Education program, organized according to the guidelines issued by national authorities, contextualized to the interests of the territory.
In the case of Agriculture, Rosell Tamayo Díaz, Deputy Delegate of this body in the province explained: “The work system comprises 21 actions that respond to 14 ministerial indications. Under the principle of integrating, joining forces, identifying problems and promoting the search for solutions, the provincial advisory group was renewed and the responsibilities of each of the actors are specified (Provincial and municipal delegations, companies, productive units, UEICA, associations and branch school in the territory) ”.
In recent meeting, the Productive Scientific Pole addressed two important issues related to the value chain and the application of biofertilizers and bioproducts, generated in the Entomophages and Entomopathogens Reproduction Centers (CREE), where there are 12 production lines of these biopreparations to replace the application of chemical fertilizers and herbicides in the plantations.
In this way, the province takes its first steps to promote research and implement science for the development of production processes, a path of great commitment, which will allow achieving food sovereignty.