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The coffee growers of the municipality of Buey Arriba, in the province of Granma, are racing against time to rescue what remains of the coffee harvest following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, which left areas cut off and caused severe damage to agricultural infrastructure.
According to a post by BioCubaCafé on their social media, the workers of the Business Unit "Ricardo Medina Reyes" have come together to save the production, despite the damage suffered by the depulpers, which are essential for processing the grain.
To that bleak outlook that forecasts less steaming drink in Cuban households, it adds that the access routes to the mountainous areas have been destroyed, which complicates the harvesting and transportation of coffee to the collection centers.
Among the most affected areas are Platanito, San Antonio, and Vega Grande, communities that are virtually isolated in the mountains of Granma.
Producers are organizing to reach areas that still have partial communication first, such as La Estrella, Yao, and San Rafael, in an effort to prevent ripe coffee from being lost in the fields.
The situation adds to the challenges already faced by coffee growers in the eastern region due to the rains caused weeks ago by Tropical Storm Imelda, which accelerated the ripening of the beans in the municipalities of Segundo Frente, Tercer Frente, San Luis, Guamá, and Songo-La Maya, as reported by TV Santiago.
The provincial agriculture delegate, Eliover Zapata Hidalgo, estimated that around 80,000 cans of coffee were already ripe before the arrival of Melissa, mainly concentrated in Segundo Frente.
In response to the risk of losses, the authorities initiated massive mobilizations to accelerate the collection efforts with the support of farmers and workers from other sectors.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) have also joined this campaign, deploying contingents in the municipalities of Santiago de Cuba, Granma, and Guantánamo.
According to the newspaper Sierra Maestra, Major Dasiel Montoya Alejandro, first officer of the Santiago military region, reported that more than 3,600 cans of coffee have already been collected and that the commitment is to reach 5,000.
The official defined the task as "a new trench of combat," asserting that soldiers, officers, and civilian workers participate as part of the "economic battle" driven by the regime.
Meanwhile, in Buey Arriba, the lack of fuel, the deterioration of the roads, and the damage to industrial infrastructure threaten to ruin the harvest.
Farmers and workers tirelessly labor to reclaim the fruits of an entire year's efforts amid one of the worst agricultural and energy crises the country is facing.
However, this situation, along with other impacts on Cuban agriculture, signals an exacerbated food crisis in Cuba.
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