According to a report from Agencia Cubana de Noticias, Cuban farmers have only planted 10,378 hectares of tobacco through February, close to the revised target of 10,500 hectares set in September 2024, but well below the initial goal of 14,771 hectares.
Cuba’s tobacco production has still not recovered since Hurricane Ian hit in 2022. In the fall of 2021, Tabacuba said that it planned to plant more than 16,000 hectares in Pinar del Río and harvest 17,600 tons. The 2023-2024 crop was originally targeted at nearly 13,000 hectares but was reduced to 10,200 hectares.
“Since Hurricane Ian ravaged Pinar del Río, Cuba’s main growing region has been rebuilding,” Charlie Minato wrote for Halfwheel. “It was estimated that 90% of the curing barns in the province were damaged, something that remains an issue today. Osvaldo Santana Vera of Tabacuba, the state-owned company in charge of tobacco production, told ACN that he was hoping for more wood deliveries, which would allow for more curing barns and could increase the size of the crop. In addition, heavy rains in September 2024 led to the destruction of 10,000 seed beds and pushed back some of the planting until earlier this month.”