Cuba opens up land for farming
Seeking to revive agriculture sector
HAVANA - Communist officials said yesterday that private farmers and cooperatives will be allowed to use up to 100 acres of idle government land each, as President Raul Castro works to revive Cuba's floundering agricultural sector.
While the individual parcels are small, the widespread transfer of farmland from public to private hands could change the face of farming in a country where the government controls well over 90 percent of the economy.
The law published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma did not say how much state land will be turned over to private hands and gave no indication of how many Cubans might apply. But it described the measure as a way to help Cuba cut food imports that are expected to cost the government $2 billion this year.
Landless Cubans can be given a bit more than 33 acres, while those who already have fully producing plots can add enough state land to bring their total holdings to 100 acres. Existing state farms, cooperatives, and state factories also can apply for underused land.
The state will retain ownership of the land. Private farmers can get concessions of up to 10 years, renewable for another 10. Cooperatives and companies can have renewable 25-year terms. And all will have to pay taxes for the lands, though yesterday's decree gave no details.
The decree noted that Cuba now suffers from "a considerable percentage of idle state lands," making it necessary to grant concessions "with the objective of elevating food production and reducing importation."
Government statistics released last month show that the percentage of fallow or underused Cuban farm land increased to 55 percent in 2007, up from 46 percent in 2002. Just 29 percent of land on state farms is actively used.
After Fidel Castro took power in 1959, the government expropriated many large farms and agricultural holdings, while allowing thousands of small farmers to keep their plots and sell their produce to the state.
The new measure doesn't say where farmers will sell their output, but nearly all private farmers now are required to sell most of their produce - beyond what they eat themselves - to the state.
Yesterday's decree spells out details of a plan announced in March, when officials told state television they had begun lending more small plots to private producers of tobacco, coffee, and other key cash crops.
Raul Castro, 77, has made increasing food production and reducing dependence on imports a top priority since succeeding his brother Fidel in February.
The government earlier gave more autonomy to regional farm authorities and it is paying private farmers more for milk and meat. State-owned farms now represent just over one-third of Cuba's agricultural land.
The government expects to cut food imports by at least 5 percent next year, Deputy Agriculture Minister Juan Perez Lama said last month. He also predicted that rice imports could be halved within five years - a huge task considering that Cuba last year imported $170 million worth from Vietnam, China, and the United States.
Cuban state enterprises grew about 10 percent of the 700,000 tons of rice consumed last year. Private farmers produced about twice that. Although 70 percent remains imported, scholars point to the rise in the small-farm output begun a decade ago.
Material from the Los Angeles Times was included in this report. 