The Vietnamese company TBAGRI officially delivered the first batch of rice produced in Cuba using technology and varieties developed in Vietnam, a project through which both governments aim to boost national production amid the deep crisis facing the Cuban agricultural sector.
According to the Vietnamese state media VOV, the delivery was formalized on Tuesday during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Agricultural Group (GAG), which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cuba.
The event was attended by the Ambassador of Vietnam in Havana, Le Quang Long; the Cuban Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Telce Abdel González Morera; as well as representatives from TBAGRI and the Cuban company GRANMAX.
As part of the project, the Vietnamese company delivered over 470 tons of commercial rice of the OM5451 variety, sourced from approximately 940 tons of paddy rice harvested in the municipality of Yara in Granma province.
This represents the first concrete result of the joint program that TBAGRI is developing in Cuba and which includes a 25-year partnership, aimed at expanding rice cultivation to 25,000 hectares. The pilot phase started with approximately 360 hectares planted in Granma.
During the autumn-winter campaign of 2025-2026, the company cultivated 166 hectares, achieving an average yield of over seven tons per hectare, more than three times the national average recorded in Cuba in 2025, which was 2.12 tons per hectare.
For this year's summer-autumn campaign, the project has already expanded its area to 246 hectares, with estimated yields exceeding 6.5 tons per hectare.
TBAGRI attributes these results to the transfer of technologies developed in the Mekong Delta, one of the world's primary rice-producing regions, as well as to the use of Vietnamese varieties such as OM5451 and OM8017, which, according to the company, have shown good adaptation to Cuba's climatic and agricultural conditions.
The delivery arrives at a particularly delicate time for rice production on the island.
Cuba needs between 600,000 and 700,000 tons of rice annually to meet national demand, but in 2024 it produced only about 80,000 tons, forcing the country to rely on imports to supply even the rice distributed through the rationing booklet.
Despite this scenario, the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel stated in March that Cuba could achieve self-sufficiency in rice "in a short time", a claim that contrasts with the ongoing decline in national production and the need to rely on international assistance, such as the donation of 60,000 tons of rice provided by China in May to alleviate the shortage.
The Thai Binh Group has had a presence in Cuba for almost three decades and is currently developing four investment projects on the island worth over 43 million dollars, establishing itself as one of the leading Vietnamese investors in the country.
The push to increase agricultural production takes on special importance in a context of rising food insecurity. According to the Food Monitor Program, 33.9% of Cuban households reported in 2026 that at least one member of their family went hungry in the 30 days prior to the survey, a significant increase compared to the 24.6% recorded two years earlier.
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