Cuba - the organic revolution

The impact of the collapse of the USSR spread waves across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, when almost overnight, Cuba lost its most significant trading partner.  Cuban agriculture was primarily large scale, input intensive monoculture. When the trade relationship with the USSR was severed in 1990, pesticide imports dropped by more than 60% and fertilisers by 77%. Barbara Dinham reports on the transformation that has occurred since. Cuba now has now adopted organic agriculture as part of its official policy, and there is a much increased reliance on biological control.

After the fall of the USSR,  the Cuban population suffered and food scarcity was a chronic problem. With the situation deteriorating further in 1991, the government declared a 'special period in peace time', introducing a strict austerity programme. This heralded a major shift in thinking and reoriented the economy.  Domestic food production became a priority, based on a strategy to reduce dependence on the now unobtainable inputs of fertilisers and pesticides and to promote organic agriculture. 
    Government policies of investment in education were now to pay off-with 2% of the Latin American population, Cuba has 11% of its scientists.  Since 1982 a number of researchers and scientists in the agricultural research centres had promoted an alternative approach to agriculture. They were driven by the concern that Cuba's dependence on foreign imports was unsustainable and that such a fertile tropical island could thrive on ecological agriculture. Their research emphasised replacing dependence on heavy farm machinery and chemical inputs with animal traction, crop and pasture rotations, soil conservation, organic input to fertilise the soil and biological pest control. The strategy was not seen as a 'return' to some utopian past, but as a scientifically driven alternative model promoting both knowledge of traditional farming techniques and the development of new and more appropriate technologies.  Among the more sophisticated experiments are in bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides and use of fermentation and tissue culture. 
    The planning authorities within the Agriculture Ministry have now fully adopted organic agriculture as the official strategy for all new agricultural development. Chemical pesticides are still required, but the excessively high levels of 207 kg/ha used some years ago (higher than US levels) have been dramatically reduced and 80% of insect pest control is now based on biological means.
    By 1982 Cuba was shifting towards an IPM approach. Its biological control dates to the 1930s when the parasitic fly Lixophaga diatraeae was introduced to control sugarcane borer. National research programmes on biological control began in the 1970s, and in the mid-1980s biological control began to replace chemical pesticides.

In August 1996, a small team from the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) visited Cuba to observe the new revolution first hand. The seven participants came from Senegal, Peru, Colombia, Malaysia, the US and the UK and were hosted by the Cuban organic agriculture organisation (ACAO) (see box).  The gains in the system are impressive. The island is now self-sufficient in basic fruit and vegetables, all grown organically, and the new policies are clearly  laying the foundations for long term success.  The large number of agricultural research institutes cooperate in promoting the knowledge and the technology for organic agriculture to expand further and continue increasing yields.
    The government has encouraged changes in land holdings and labour to support the new agricultural policy.  In the late 1980s, approximately 80% of the land was held in relatively large state farms, and the remainder was split between  co-operatives, peasant producers and individuals who may now hold a maximum of 60ha. The larger co-operatives are now being encouraged to farm in smaller units, and while the landholding remains with the State, the produce belongs to the farmer. Some free market sales are allowed, for example in road-side stalls.  The government has also had to encourage demographic change to meet the demands of more labour intensive agriculture as almost 70% of Cubans lived in towns and cities at the end of the 1980s. Policies include increasing rural wages, and offering favourable housing-a popular move because of severe housing shortages in the cities.

Luis Gomero (left) RAAA, and José Ucha Santana swapping seeds from the Santa Fe urban agriculture co-op

Transforming a co-operative
The Co-operative Gilberto Léon is a large, 450 ha farm producing maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sugar, and many vegetables. The co-op was a model of conventional fully-irrigated Cuban agriculture using entirely mechanised systems. Fertilisers were utilised at 4-5 tonnes/ha for every crop, independently of whether they were necessary and high applications of pesticides were required to control pests. 
    Pedro Louis Quintero joined the co-operative in 1987, and began by evaluating the use of inputs and studying soil fertility: "we found levels of potassium  and phosphorus levels were 5-6 times higher than required and when we stopped their application there was no reduction in yields. In 1992 pesticide use was stopped and yields again improved."  The co-operative is among the most advanced of the larger organic farms and is fully committed to the new approach. Quintero explained that biodiversity is the basic principle on the farm:  "in the past we would produce 2-3 different crops per 40 ha-now we have 8-12 crop rotations and since these began there have been no significant pest attacks. Almost all insect pests are managed by natural predators and biological control agents as well as by mixed cropping, rotations, organic inputs and other techniques." 
    Green manure is the basis of soil fertility now and it is all incorporated in the soil. The philosophy is to keep the soil covered at all times to protect from the intense sun and driving rain and to control pests through polyculture and crop rotation. The co-op now uses 23 different crop associations in the field, and 35 in the vegetable gardens. Cabbage yields demonstrate the success of the organic system. We could not even grow cabbage because of the impossibility of controlling diamond back moth, but we now have yields of 60 tonnes/ha through diverse cropping systems with no use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides.
    Bacillus thuringiensis, which is produced at three factories in Cuba, is an important control agent, but, said Quintero: "the ultimate goal is to limit even this bio-control. We believe it is possible to continue increasing yields and achieve completely natural controls based on diversity of plant and insects populations."

Intensive organic vegetable production 
Intensive vegetable production in Cuba is often concentrated in raised beds, using simple irrigation, based on regular incorporation of organic matter and constant management. The system is known as 'organoponics'. Beds are sometimes shaded to protect the more delicate crops from the sun. Shading is expensive (at the Gilberto Léon co-operative it was provided by Oxfam US) but the yields are high and the organoponic is the most profitable part of this co-operative.
    An organoponic attached to the National Association of Agricultural Producers (ANAP), a small-scale farmers association, covers only 1.2 ha, but keeps the training centre self sufficient in vegetables. The workplace cafeteria serves 170 people a day, as well as guests staying at the centre for courses and conferences. There is still a surplus to sell to the workers at moderate prices for family consumption. 

A team from PAN visiting a IIPF field experiment

Urban agriculture
A significant contribution to nutrition in urban areas has been made by creating urban agriculture programmes. The government makes available abandoned farm and other land in or near urban areas to members of the local community who form a co-operative to farm it. The land remains the property of the State but the produce belongs to the growers.  The organiser of one project on the outskirts of Havana, Georgina Pérez Martinez, explained that the 40 members who produce primarily for home consumption also provide for other members of the community, particularly invalids, the elderly and day-care centres. In all, the scheme feeds about 40 homes with an average family size of five, a further 68 family members living elsewhere, and about 90 neighbours. There is a waiting list of people wanting to join, and the co-operative is looking for smaller land parcels so more can participate. Many crops are grown, including tubers, yam, squash, maize, grains, mango, beans, garlic, onion, yucca, papaya. About 200 chickens of a locally adapted breed provide abundant egg supplies. The co-operative is planning a fresh water pond for fish, and to acquire an extractor for sugar cane juice. Soil management is a crucial part of growing organically: everything is composted for fertiliser, and chicken numbers will soon be increased, providing more manure.
    Another urban agriculture project in Santa Fe is smaller, with a total of 2.9 ha worked by about 14 retired people. Spokesperson José Ucha Santana, who was director of a State institution before he retired, indicated that the scheme directly supports 21-23 families, with an average of about six people.  "I have never been so satisfied in my work, and have learnt a great deal about agriculture. We even grow a range of insecticidal plants, including neem and other effective trees and grasses."

The science of organics
A special feature of the Cuban experiment is the value given to measuring the outputs from organic production. The Institute for Pasture and Forage (IIPF) has developed small plots for experimenting with mixtures of pasture and forage which are closely documented.  Since the special period highly-managed, intensive rotational systems have been seen as the best approach and there is now several years' experience in integrating agriculture and livestock in organic production methods.
    Like other sections of Cuban agriculture, animal systems were very specialised. The aim now is to develop more migration between animal production and agriculture. However underpinning all the work is a belief that no single model should prevail, and that local conditions and farmers' needs will dictate the ideal mix and proportion of arable crops to cattle chosen. "Uniformity", said sub-director Delio Fernandez, "was a mistake of the past which we do not wish to repeat." IIPFs' experimental plots-now covering 17 ha-reflect this philosophy, with some working on a 25/75 basis (75% pasture), some 50/50 and others 60/40. 
    One farmer working with IIPF started a 1 ha. plot in April 1995 on the basis of 50/50 pasture and forage. The biggest initial problem was weeds, and at first about 12 hours a day labour was mainly spent weeding. The farm is now maintained on about three hours a day labour, and produces protein for 12 people and calories for four.  The crops are varied, including forage crops. The mung beans give 5 harvests a year in a 65 day cycle (about 2-3000 kg/pa). The maize doubled in both yields and size of the cob over one year. The farm at present has one cow, producing 11 kg of milk a day in addition, to feeding her calf. Fertilisation and mixed cropping is the key to success, with care taken to ensure soil is not exposed to the sun. Fertiliser is both animal and green manures. In common with many farms, wormeries are maintained to break up organic matter and provide humus.
    IIPF has developed links between producers and researchers in each region to discuss problems. Although the relationship is closer with State farms, there is good contact with ANAP (the union of small farmers), and visits are arranged to construct relevant programmes of work and share information.

Conclusion
Cuban agriculture has achieved remarkable successes in a short period of time, and deserves not only support, but close attention by agricultural researchers, particularly those  with similar agro-ecological zones. 
    These developments have been triggered by economic necessity, but are demonstrating that organic systems, nurturing both knowledge and technology have a great deal to offer and have been unjustifiably ignored by agricultural researchers. Some far-reaching steps are being introduced to ensure the successes will continue. This includes not only investment in knowledge and technology for organic agriculture, but introducing organic theory and practices into agricultural colleges and the university curriculum to develop a new breed of researchers.  Recognising the importance of guarding the successes, ACAO is encouraging Cubans to become 'organic' not only by necessity, but also by conviction.

Sources:
Interviews in Cuba, August 1996.
Rosset, Peter and Medea Benjamin, The Greening of the Revolution-Cuba's experiment with organic agriculture, Ocean Press,  Melbourne, Australia, 1995. Available from Food First, Institute for Food and Development Policy, 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618, US, Fax +1 510 654 4451.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 34, December 1996, pages 12-14]