Farmers in Pinar del Rio, Cuba’s primary tobacco producing province, have planted 16,189 hectares of tobacco to date, exceeding the plan of 15,800 hectares of tobacco for the current growing season, reports Prensa Latina.
According to the agricultural specialist of the Tabacuba group in Pinar del Rio, Virginio Morales, the farmers have fulfilled 85 percent of the harvest plan to date.
Some 3,400 workers are engaged in the processing of the leaf, which has reached 2,445 tons. Since the end of December, more than a thousand workers have joined this work.
Most of the tobacco leaf harvested in the area is used to make premium handmade cigars for export, a luxury product demanded in most international markets.