• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 08 / 12 / 2010

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The output of farm products other than sugar decreased 9.7 percent in the first semester of this year compared with the same period in 2009, according to a report from the National Office of Statistics. Cattle farming also dropped, by 4.8 percent.

Specific figures follow:

- Potatoes and malanga are down 30.8 and 34.3 percent, respectively; sweet potatoes, yucca and other tubers are up, 1.6, 60.6, and 17.4 percent respectively.

- Plantains are up 48 percent.

-Garden vegetables (mostly tomato and cabbage) are down 21.7 percent; garlic and cantaloupe are up.

- Beans are down 27 percent, rice is down 1.7 percent; corn is barely up, 0.7 percent.

-Oranges and lemons are down 39.7 and 23.1 percent, respectively. Other fruits are up 21.2 percent, although guava shows a 15.3 percent decrease.

-The production of pork is down 9.1 percent; beef is down 6 percent; horse meat is down 4.5 percent; eggs are down 2.6 percent.

According to the Cuban government, the nation imports 80 percent of the food it needs, at a cost that exceeds US$1.5 billion a year.

By Renato Perez at 10:07

Source: /miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada