Some eight million pesos will be invested during 2025 in different productive units of the Las Tunas Eastern province, as part of the soil improvement and conservation plan, developed by the territorial delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG).

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Diosdado Ruíz Martínez, provincial director of Soils and Fertilizers, in the MINAG delegation, reported that this program includes all units of the cooperative and peasant sector, agricultural companies, and the regiment of the Youth Labor Army (EJT, in Spanish).

Organic matter will be applied in the territory to protect this resource, the most important involved in food production according to experts. Besides, leveling and subsoiling actions will be carried out, which is when the soil is broken at depth in the hardest layers of the ground.

In the eight municipalities, drainage measures will also be adopted and living barriers will be planted to prevent erosion in areas with slopes. In addition, green manures will be used, i.e., undecomposed plant mass of already cultivated plants.

Ruíz Martínez said that in the last calendar year around 20 million pesos were financed to several leading producers and some productive bases, which in the medium and long term has an impact on the quality of the soil and the yields of various crops.

The specialist recommended the landowners of Las Tunas to apply organic fertilizers to replace chemical products, and recalled that irrigation by flooding is necessary in most cases but it damages the land.

Historically, more than 80 percent of the province's soils have been evaluated as regular and poor. Therefore, restoration procedures are opportune to alleviate the actions of human beings, the persistent drought, and other natural factors.