Cuba: New Tobacco Varieties and Technolgies

Source from:  Prensa Latina 02/08/2014

In the fields of the west of Cuba, the land cultivating the best tobacco in the entire world, new varieties of tobacco for the obtention of layers and other components for the famous Habano Cigars, and also harmonic planting and cultivating technologies, are being tested.

Tobacco type C-12 (black tobacco variety) is present in reduced zones of San Luis and San Juan y Martinez, to evaluate the characteristics and behavior, said engineer Betty Hernandez, subdirector of the experimental station dedicated to these activities.

Specialists are shaping new crossings of varieties, which might be ready in 2 or 3 years.

Other contributions are the reduction of the use of chemical fertilizers, by using organic fertilizers and sposoring new technologies, such as as the one called "double row" and others.

Only with the application of the "double row" it is possible to increase the number of plants in a same surface up to 26 percent, and the cultivation performance also grows in proportion.

Distant 140 kilometers of Havana, Pinar del Rio almost contributes with 70 percent of the tobacco national production and most of the layers are used to dress the Habano Cigars. Enditem