Related videos:
While Cuba faces one of the worst egg supply crises in its recent history, the state-run media celebrated in Villa Clara the validation of a mineral supplement that strengthens the shell, even as millions of households still lack stable access to this essential food.
The supplement Corrector Avícola Para Gallinas Ponedoras, developed by the state-owned company Geominera del Centro in collaboration with the Universidad Central Marta Abreu de Las Villas, showed "favorable" results in its experimental phase, highlighted the Cuban News Agency.
According to project executives, the product increases the strength of the shell, reduces losses due to breakage, and improves the health of the birds.
The trial, which began in December 2025 and is nearing completion, is taking place at the Patio Titi laying farm in Santa Clara, where various supplementation schemes were evaluated against a control group and an imported supplement.
The best results, according to specialists, were achieved when the national corrector was administered in the evening, with a posture rate exceeding 75% and better calcium absorption.
The project leaders highlighted that 2.5 tons of the supplement have already been produced and emphasized its strategic advantages as a national product, purchased in local currency and designed to replace imports.
On a technical level, they celebrated eggs of "ideal" size, weighing over 48 grams and having a firmer shell.
However, the official enthusiasm contrasts with the reality of the country. Cuba increasingly relies on the importation of eggs, particularly from the Dominican Republic, where producers have acknowledged that they send approximately 65 million units to the island each month, a figure that quadruples previous official estimates.
This is compounded by imports from the United States and Colombia, even as the regime insists on attributing the shortage to the embargo.
Economists like Pedro Monreal have warned that the decline in national egg production following the economic "reorganization" of 2021 is more severe than during the Special Period.
In 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture itself acknowledged that, instead of producing between four and five million eggs daily, the country barely reached 1,200,000 when it managed to feed the poultry population.
At the same time, the state has promoted cooperative production schemes in which micro, small, and medium enterprises (mipymes) and private suppliers receive up to 70% of the quotas, while state poultry retains only 30%, further indicating the structural fragility of the sector.
Even so, eggs remain a nearly unattainable product for large segments of the population, with prices in the informal market far exceeding salaries and pensions.
In that context, the validation of a supplement that prevents the shell from breaking is presented as a scientific achievement, but the central question remains: what is the use of a more resilient egg if the majority of Cubans cannot afford to buy it or even get it to the frying pan?
Filed under: