Posted on Fri, Jul. 18, 2008
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA --
Communist officials decreed Friday that private farmers and cooperatives
can use up to 100 acres (40 hectares) of idle government land, as
President Raul Castro works to revive Cuba's floundering agricultural
sector.
The law published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma did not say
how much state land will be turned over to private hands and gave no
indication of how many Cubans might apply.
But it described the measure as a way to help Cuba solve the problem of
underused land while cutting food imports that are expected to cost the
government US$2 billion this year.
Landless Cubans can be given a bit more than 33 acres (13 hectares)
while those who already have fully producing plots can add enough state
lands to bring their total holdings to 100 acres (40 hectares).
Existing state farms, cooperatives and state factories also can apply
for underused land.
Ownership will stay with the state. Private farmers can get concessions
of up to 10 years, renewable for another 10. Cooperatives and companies
can have renewable 25-year terms. And all will have to pay taxes for the
lands, though the decree gave no details.
While the individual parcels are small, the widespread transfer of
farmland from public to private hands could change the face of farming
in a country where the government controls well over 90 percent of the
economy.
The decree noted that Cuba now suffers from "a considerable percentage
of idle state lands," making it necessary to grant concessions "with the
objective of elevating food production and reducing importation."
Government statistics released last month show that the percentage of
fallow or underused Cuban farm land increased to 55 percent in 2007, up
from 46 percent in 2002. Just 29 percent of land on state farms is
actively used.
After Fidel Castro took power in 1959, the government expropriated many
large farms and agricultural holdings, while allowing thousands of small
farmers to keep their plots and sell their produce to the state.
The new measure doesn't say where farmers will sell their output, but
nearly all private farmers now are required to sell most of their
produce - beyond what they eat themselves - to the state.
Friday's decree spells out details of a plan announced in March, when
officials told state television they had begun lending more small plots
to private producers of tobacco, coffee and other key cash crops.
Raul Castro, 77, has made increasing food production and reducing
dependance on foreign imports a top priority since succeeding his
brother Fidel in February.
The government earlier gave more autonomy to regional farm authorities
and it is paying private farmers more for milk and meat.
State-owned farms now hold just over one-third of Cuba's agricultural
land - down from about 70 percent two decades ago. The rest is worked by
small farmers and cooperatives, many of them state-organized.
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