Given the estimated Cuban potato liftings for this year totaling 116,396 tons, the Ministry of Agriculture recognized recently that the national spud harvest will not cover the internal demand in 2022.
Cuban experts say that out of the total acreage dedicated to this crop, 56% was planted “outside the ideal calendar,” mainly due to lack of inputs, which will make it difficult to meet the objectives, Havana Times wrote.
Data from the National Statistics and Information Office (Onei) shows that the estimates are similar to the harvest obtained in 2020 (115,385 tons), the last year for which there is a record, and which was the worst year since 2017. If the official projection is achieved, it would be the fourth-worst result of the potato harvest since 2000.
This situation comes while deliveries are being made, allowing 1.8kg per person at 0.10USD a kilo in various neighborhoods of Havana.
In 2019, the spud consumption in Cuba was 151,668 tons, of which 35,272 were imported from the Netherlands and Canada.
In 1996, Cuba was even a net exporter of potatoes, reaching a production record of 348,000 tons. In 2010 the sale was released from the rationing system, but in 2015 the harvest collapsed (123,000 tons) and the Government had to import to cover the demand, which led to rationing potatoes as of 2017.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the situation has worsened even more and the lines to buy potatoes are several hours long, generating riots and disputes among people to get the kilos of potatoes that the Cuban State allows them to acquire, according to rationing, and only once since the year began.
The lines that must form to buy the tuber cover entire blocks and this year, the Cuban State has only announced the sale of the product one time.
In February, the Government doubled the price of potatoes due to the rise in the price of agricultural products and the increase in labor costs per employee.
