HAVANA – Cuba plans to enlarge to 40,000 hectares (98,765 acres) a
Vietnamese-aided effort to expand production of rice, official media
said Monday.
Given the positive results of the joint project, a new phase is
currently being analyzed, according to an Agriculture Ministry official
cited by the state news agency Prensa Latina.
Up to now the program has had "concrete results in the areas of
demonstration, consultation and production," the head of the Vietnamese
part of the project, Bui Van Duong, said.
Bilateral cooperation in this field was launched in 2002, first in the
eastern province of Granma and then was extended to other areas on the
island.
Vietnam is the chief supplier of rice to Cuba, according to government
officials.
Cuba must import more than 400,000 tons of rice annually, 60 percent of
the total amount consumed by inhabitants of the island, where the grain
is a fundamental part of the daily diet.
Each of Cuba's 11.2 million residents consumes an average of 11 pounds
of rice per month, or more than 60 kilos (130 pounds) a year per person,
or roughly 600,000 tons, according to official figures. EFE
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