CUBA
State-owned Tabacuba business group reported a favorable harvest as all cigar companies in the country fulfilled the plantation process. Cuba will conclude its current tobacco harvest with almost 30,000 tons of leaf.
According to Gonzalo Rodriguez, agricultural director of Tabacuba, the province of Pinar del Rio, where the best leaves are planted, contributed about 70% of the national production and will try to reach 19,000 tons.
“We’ll advance on a project to promote tobacco plantations in the eastern and central areas of the island in order to supply the Holguin cigar factory, which has a demand of more than 8,000 tons of leaves,” he said.
He also highlighted the increase in “covered tobacco,” which is a method to grow the crop inside a cloth covered house that filters sunlight and retains the heat, allowing bigger and thinner leaves which are then used to cover the outside layer of premium cigars and give them the finest taste.
Rodriguez also said the island hopes to complete the harvest in mid-July and then start planting seeds for the next tobacco campaign.