The Council of Ministers of Cuba approved , a regulation that modifies the current rules on soil conservation, sustainable management, and the use of fertilizers, with the stated aim of promoting the agricultural recovery of the country.
The regulation, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on August 19, 2026, was published this Wednesday in the , pages 100 to 103, along with another 18 regulations related to the agricultural sector.
Decree 172 updates Decree 52 from September 1, 2021, which is the regulation of Decree-Law 50 "On the conservation, improvement, and sustainable management of soils and the use of fertilizers."
This update responds to a regulatory chain that began on July 22, 2026, when the Council of State issued Decree-Law 126 to amend Decree-Law 50 itself, as part of the 176 economic and social transformations ratified by the National Assembly in June 2026.
The Second Final Provision of that Decree-Law 126 explicitly ordered the updating of the regulations, which led to the now-published Decree 172.
The regulation amends eleven articles of Decree 52: articles 3, 5, 32, 45, 46, 49, 52, 62, 64, 65, and 66.
It also repeals several sections: section 2 of article 33, section 3 of article 45, section 2 of article 47, section 2 of article 52, and articles 53 and 54 in their entirety.
Among the most significant changes is the redefinition of the functions of the National Soil and Fertilizers System, which is under the direction of the Soil and Fertilizer Director of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The amended Article 5 states that this Directorate must "plan the financial resources for its self-management," while Article 32 assigns it the responsibility for executing the national balance of mineral, organic, organo-mineral, biological, corrective, stimulating, and amendment fertilizers, regarding those acquired by the State or received through donations to the state sector.
Chapter IX of Decree 52 also receives a new designation: "Change of land use, compensation, and its protection."
In that chapter, the amended article 45 states that any change in land use requires authorization from the provincial delegates of Agriculture or, where applicable, from the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.
One of the most far-reaching provisions is Article 49, which establishes that the change of use of privately owned land "may be initiated ex officio even if its owner expresses dissent, through compulsory expropriation ordered by the competent court."
La Gaceta No. 75 is the most extensive agricultural regulatory package published in Cuba in 2026: its 19 norms cover land, soils, water, mechanization, seeds, zoogenetic resources, and agricultural marketing, and include Law 185 on land ownership and use and Decree 175 that regulates it.
The regime presents these reforms as a response to a severe agricultural crisis that the government itself acknowledges, in a context where Cuba imports about 80% of the food it consumes.
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