Many years ago, Ulises Bueno Ligurvia's grandfather told him that when the day was not enough, he should match it with the night. And that is what this farmer from Las Tunas has done since then, working without looking at the clock but without leaving pending matters on his land.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- This way of acting has given him results, although it has cost him a lot of effort. Nevertheless, he feels fulfilled because "to go to bed, the man from the countryside has no time. It is tough but with development and rechargeable light bulbs, you solve it."
Together with his family, he lives on the Los Buenos private farm, where everyone contributes, both females and males. In addition, he manages 13.42 hectares that he received in usufruct through Decree Law 259 and dedicates entirely to livestock.
“In the area that we own, there is also a lot of cattle and we raise pigs, poultry, sheep, and horses. Ours is one of the agroecological farms of the credit and services cooperative Josué País, in the Barranca area.
“There we have a food base, which is destined for the consumption of those who live there and to make donations to the homes for children without family support. There is yuca, plantain, pumpkin, mango, guava, medlar, cashew, coconut, avocado and other items.
“As for timber trees, there is baria, Honduran cedar, bijagua, and guano cana. We plant a small coffee plantation and guarantee animal feed. For monogastric animals, there is a good amount of yuca and for ruminants, we plant sugar cane.”
Ulises works from sunrise to sunset and can barely distribute his time to complete all the tasks, which are many. He is always busy with the animals, the crops, the production of nails and other inputs, and the production of organic matter to fertilize the soil and increase yields.
“It is nice, but it is difficult. From the moment you wake up, you have to feed the chickens and pigs, milk the cows, take the milk to the cooperative, turn the fences… At night you can hardly sleep, taking care of everything to avoid theft.
“Luckily, I am an Animal Welfare rescuer in Cuba. I have about 25 dogs on my farm, which are biological sentinels. I don't want the bandits to catch me; I prefer them to wake me up, so I can deal with these opportunists.
“And the other thing is that I don't have any kind of problem with water. The lands in usufruct border the coast of the dam and on the family's lands I have a canal that runs between them. Furthermore, I have not been overconfident and I already have three wells with good springs.”
Together with his family, this producer from the municipality of Las Tunas has much to thank the Cuban Revolution for because - among other reasons - most of them have been trained as professionals. There are five veterinarians in the family and they all contribute to the health of the animals.
“That helps us a lot. We have about 40 heads of cattle, almost all females; and now we are introducing dairy heifers. Given the difficulties with artificial insemination, we work on genetic improvement through direct mating with our stallions.”
On the farm, environmental protection is a primary task, and, being agroecological, no chemical products are used. That is why there are many butterflies, mockingbirds, and hummingbirds, and in recent days several Cuban hawks have begun to appear. No wonder Ulises says that the flora and fauna are safe there.
“There are many things and I get exhausted, but I don't get tired. The exhaustion continues and the tired give up. What is needed is to apply a little more force to the bandits and to improve the availability of fuel. Otherwise, we will have to sow with a hoe and pickaxe; but we will comply.”
