Anew cassava flour factory will open in Artemisa, a government alternative to alleviate the critical deficit of wheat flour in the country.
The plant, belonging to the Cítricos Ceiba Company (ECC), located in Caimito, will have aproduction capacity from 200 to 1,200 kilograms of cassava flour every day, which will be sold in the municipality's network of state businesses, the food industry and currency stores, the local newspaper reported.The Artemiseño.
Alejandro Valdés, general director of the ECC, explained that the factory will obtain one ton of flour after processing two tons of fresh cassava and currently they have about nine hectares of the tuber, "enough for the start."
"Within the total land, we have a program for planting cassava; at least in one year we must plant 300 hectares to maintain the industry, with a yield of between eight and 10 tons per hectare," the manager optimistically stated.
The technology for the plant was donated by the Sustainable Agriculture Support Project (PAAS) and since June of last year they have been dedicated to the assembly process and technological adjustments, with a budget of seven million pesos.
Although the shortage of construction materials has made it "difficult" to meet deadlines, they hope to conclude a part between the 15th and 20th of this month "if the flow of materials is maintained," and then, they would gradually lay the floor, well, " should start coming in in small quantities."
In the unit, the tuber brought from the field will go through a cleaning phase with water, then to a tank where blades will remove all the peel, to continue with its crushing and pressing, until 15 percent of its moisture is eliminated.
“On the next level you will reach another crusher and the drying process in the oven, at about 400 degrees. Finally, only the packaging will remain, after a decanting process,” Valdés pointed out.
Given the impossibility of producing bread and other foods due to the lack of wheat flour, Cuban authorities are opting for less popular alternatives such as cassava, which is considered an extender, to change the formula and use the smallest amount of traditional flour.
Thefirst flour factory based on the tuber, it was located in Camagüey, in November of last year, to implement the formula that would allow 70% of wheat flour to be replaced with cassava flour.
Other provinces likeHundred fires They also adopted this alternative for the production of foods such as bread, which are part of the basic diet of Cubans.
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