Preparing for harvest

Farmers in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, expect to plant about 20,050 hectares of tobacco for the 2019-2020 season, according to local press reports.

Accounting for around 65 percent of production, Pinar del Rio is the country’s largest producer and supplier of the aromatic leaf, which is used to produce Cuba’s famous cigars.

Cuba harvested more than 30,000 tons of tobacco for the second consecutive year in 2018, when about 300 million hand-rolled cigars were produced on the island, almost 100 million of them for export.

The tobacco industry is the fourth biggest contributor to Cuba’s gross domestic product. In 2018, its exports reached almost $260 million.

The sector employs about 200,000 workers on the island, with up to 250,000 at the peak of the harvest.