{"id":208222,"date":"2019-10-26T19:07:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T23:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=208222"},"modified":"2019-10-26T19:07:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T23:07:22","slug":"cuban-poultry-farming-still-recovering-from-hurricane-irma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/cuban-poultry-farming-still-recovering-from-hurricane-irma\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban poultry farming still recovering from Hurricane Irma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cuban poultry farming has not yet fully recovered from the damages caused by the devastating <\/span>Hurricane Irma<\/span><\/a>, which two years ago affected a great deal of the island, this sector\u2019s executives acknowledged this Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Irma damaged around 700 poultry barns throughout the country, mainly in the provinces of Villa Clara, Ciego de \u00c1vila and Camag\u00fcey, among the most affected, while it is estimated that about 10,000 hens died. This data has not been officially mentioned by the authorities, but who have referred to the \u201cstress\u201d suffered by the surviving animals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Poultry farming \u201chas repeatedly been forced to practically be born again\u201d due to the passage of different meteorological events, among which Irma stands out for its destructive power, said Norberto Espinosa, president of the Livestock Business Group (GEGAN), in the Mesa Redonda television program, which dedicated its 55th Wednesday edition to the National Poultry Conglomerate (CAN).<\/span><\/p>\n

Irma\u2019s winds \u201cdamaged the structures of enterprises from Holguin to Artemisa,\u201d while the halt of most of the thermoelectric plants in the country affected the pumping of water for poultry activity, said Espinosa, who described the effort made to recover the productive structure after that disaster as \u201cheroic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The official also attributed the difficulties in recovering to the measures of the U.S. government against Cuba and the current energy crisis that the island has been experiencing since last September as a result of these measures, although he affirmed that \u201cwork and progress has been made for several months in the recovery of poultry in the country\u201d and that \u201cfor 14 days there has been a permanent rise in production.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, he said that the Cuban State prioritizes investment in this sector, to which it allocated more than 12 million dollars this 2019, according to <\/span>statements cited<\/span><\/a> by the official Cubadebate<\/em> website.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to figures provided by Espinosa, egg production in Cuba currently exceeds five million daily, \u201calthough there is still a high potential to increase production\u201d and next year they expect to reach 40 million more eggs.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the current rate, the island would not reach the amount for 2018, when there was a production of more than 2.778 billion\u2015the highest figure in the last five years\u2015, of which about 1.95 billion was produced by state poultry enterprises, according to <\/span>data published<\/span><\/a> by the National Bureau of Statistics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cuba reconoce falta de alimento av\u00edcola en medio de escasez de huevos<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n