• Submitted by: Camila
• Business and Economy
• 10 / 18 / 2014

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Of total rice consumed in Cuba only a third part of it is grown on the island, the rest is imported mainly from Vietnam. That is why the government has proposed to plant this cereal which would be half the cost of importing it.

The Agriculture Minister, Gustavo Rodríguez Rollero, after passing through the central provinces of the island inspecting investments and projects related to the food, said the project will be realized by 2016.

In 2014 the country fields should provide 254,000 tons of the 700,000 basic demand of rice in Cuban diet. Only just less than half a million tonnes will be imported mainly from Vietnam or Brazil to meet the rest of the national need.

The economic reform undertaken since 2011 includes a reduction of purchases abroad. Within this strategy, the Ministry of Agriculture expects to harvest 538,000 tons of rice fields in 2016. If the plan succeeds, external acquisitions of the cereal will represent only 24% of national consumption.

The news of the new plan coincides with the opening of state investment in the central provinces of the island, with new industries to support the planting of cereal.

Source: OnCuba