Cienfuegos: Sugar industry that brought development and luxury to Cuba is facing a crisis in the country, reports Al Jazeera.
The industry has been declining for decades. The industry that was producing more than 7 million tonnes in the 1980s is now producing only 480,000 tonnes following the sanctions of the United States. The country is heading towards its worst sugar harvest in more than a century this season with the lowest sugar production.
Dionis Perez, director of communications at Azcuba, the state agency that regulates sugar production said, “The country was one of the top exporters of sugar in the world.”
The island is facing a shortage of gasoline and diesel that has affected the process of harvesting and they have to wait for one to three days for diesel, said Perez.
The fields are overgrown with weeds that are affecting the cane yield and the farmers are lacking the equipment to address this menace.
