{"id":258629,"date":"2022-10-07T14:55:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T18:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=258629"},"modified":"2022-10-07T14:55:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T18:55:03","slug":"tobacco-production-in-cuba-suffers-devastating-blow-with-hurricane-ian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economy\/tobacco-production-in-cuba-suffers-devastating-blow-with-hurricane-ian\/","title":{"rendered":"Tobacco production in Cuba suffers \u201cdevastating blow\u201d with Hurricane Ian"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recent passage of <\/span>Hurricane Ian<\/b><\/a> through western Cuba dealt a \u201cdevastating blow\u201d to the cultivation of the most select tobacco produced in the province of <\/span>Pinar del R\u00edo<\/b><\/a>, according to official media on the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to preliminary reports, the territory that produces the largest amount of <\/span>tobacco in the country<\/b><\/a>, as well as the one with the best quality, suffered major infrastructure damage while losing thousands of tons of raw material.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/GTabacuba\/status\/1577084137072365569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1577084137072365569%7Ctwgr%5Ea96ada60440126b0dcd2c8e0df2b65731727b083%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba%2Fproduccion-tabacalera-sufrio-en-cuba-un-golpe-demoledor-con-el-huracan-ian%2F<\/p>\n

The hydrometeorological event that touched Cuban territory with category three and winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour caused massive damage \u201cboth in tons and in the quality of a crop that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars for exports every year,\u201d a <\/span>report<\/b><\/a>\u00a0by the official newspaper <\/span>Granma<\/span><\/i> said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The newspaper indicated that the most significant damage was concentrated in the municipalities of San Luis and San Juan y Mart\u00ednez, where most of the raw material for the manufacture of the famous <\/span>cigars<\/b><\/a> comes from, one of the most profitable exportable lines of the battered <\/span>economy of the island.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The delegate of Agriculture in Pinar del R\u00edo, V\u00edctor Fidel Hern\u00e1ndez, confessed to Granma that \u201cthis is the biggest blow that the tobacco infrastructure has suffered throughout its history… Not even when hurricanes Isidore and Lili hit, in 2002, the damage reached such a dimension.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Twitter @GTabacuba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the main tobacco-producing region of the country, 90% of the around 12,000 natural cure houses that store leaves for drying have been damaged, according to figures provided by the official.<\/span><\/p>\n

It also transpired that around 11,000 tons of tobacco, corresponding to the last harvest and that were in those houses, ended up wet, so the work has been focused on \u201csalvaging as many leaves as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The authorities of the sector in Cuba are now drawing up new strategies to start the 2022-2023 harvest on October 20, considering, among other factors, that Pinar del R\u00edo lost practically all the seedbeds that provide the necessary seedlings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marino Murillo, president for some time of the Tabacuba business group, explained that for now, the priority is to extract all the protected tobacco in natural curing houses and warehouses, since of the 41,000 tons existing in the nation, 33,000 are in the territory of Pinar del Rio, as indicated by a <\/span>dispatch<\/b><\/a>\u00a0from Prensa Latina (PL) news agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Habanos auction raises 2.9 million euros in Cuba<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n