HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 16(acn)The poultry industry in the westernmost Cuban
province of Pinar del Rio was devastated after the passing of two major
hurricanes within two weeks that damaged 39 large facilities to some
extent, reported Granma newspaper.
Cuban News Agency
Up until the end of August, the average monthly egg production in Pinar
del Rio was between 20 and 22 million eggs, half of which was sent to
Havana city to supply domestic needs. Calculations made after the
passing of Gustav and Ike shows that in September, production will not
surpass 10 million, and that is only if the chicken feed is steady,
something that has not been the case in the first half of the month. "We
hope to cover the quota for the province, but we are no longer sending
to the capital," said Victor Fidel Hernandez, director of the Pinar del
Rio Poultry Company.
Damage occurred in 298 of the 390 laying facilities (93 totally
destroyed). More than 290,000 birds died and many others had to be
killed ahead of schedule. The feed processing industry was also
seriously affected.
Another factor that has affected production is that during the last two
weeks egg production had dropped to half as a result of the stress from
the affectations.
"We had not suffered something similar since the founding of the
National Poultry Center (CAN) in 1964. These two hurricanes destroyed
the efforts of many people during all this time," he added.
However, the women and men that year after year have made Pinar del Rio
a leader in poultry farming aren't standing by with their hands crossed.
More than 350,000 hens were moved to other installations in the
provinces of Pinar del Rio and Havana all in a period of five days.
"At this moment, feed is the most urgent problem. Although some has come
in from Havana and Cienfuegos, it's not enough. That makes it crucial to
get our two plants back operating," said the official.
At the same time, facility employees are working at rebuilding what was
destroyed, some with help from construction workers from Havana,
Matanzas, Villa Clara and Holguin.
Poultry farms like the Benito Juarez of Guane and the El Rosario in
Viñales are already producing, while others were totally destroyed like
the Julian Aleman of Consolacion del Sur where the workers are trying to
recover whatever materials they can.
The Julian Aleman poultry farm had just been repaired in 2007. "This
year we had very good results, and we were hoping to be one of the most
productive in the country," said its administrator, Emilio Rojas.
He said the blow was a hard one for workers. Of the 82 women and men
that work there, 51 also lost their homes. Nonetheless, he noted that
all have come to help in the recuperation of the poultry farm.
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