The Council of Ministers regulates soil conservation and the use of fertilizers

The Council of Ministers of Cuba published this Thursday the updated and harmonized version of the and the use of fertilizers, in the , pages 13 to 34.

The regulation is not an entirely new decree but rather an update of the original Decree 52 from September 1, 2021, in compliance with the mandate contained in the Second Final Provision of Decree 172, issued on August 19, 2026, which ordered the review, update, and alignment of the regulation.

The document was signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on behalf of the Council of Ministers and regulates the "On the Conservation, Improvement, and Sustainable Management of Soils and the Use of Fertilizers," approved by the Council of State on August 6, 2021.

In its recitals, the decree acknowledges that "soil is one of the most important natural resources for agricultural production and the support of biodiversity, with its degradation identified as one of the main environmental issues in the national environmental strategy."

The standard covers 21 subjects and establishes the procedures for its practical application.

Among the key points of the updated Decree 52 are the following:

• Create and regulate the National Soil and Fertilizer System, headed by the Soil and Fertilizer Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, with responsibilities for planning, control, and inter-institutional coordination.
• Regulates state financing aimed at compensating for expenses related to the conservation and improvement of soils, as well as the incentives and financial mechanisms for sustainable management.
• Establishes the Central Registry of Fertilizers, in which mineral, organic, organo-mineral, biological, corrective, stimulants, and amendment fertilizer products must be registered.
• It regulates land use changes, compensation for such changes, vegetation cover, controlled use of fire, and violations.

The regulation applies to natural and legal persons—owners, usufructuaries, or possessors of land—who use the land for agricultural, forestry, sugarcane, fruit farming, or in protected areas.

This update is part of a broader package of agricultural reforms approved by the Cuban government in 2026, which also includes the Decree 175 on the property and use of agricultural lands and Law 185 on Agricultural and Forestry Land, approved by the National Assembly on July 29, 2026.

The background of these measures is the serious condition of Cuban soils: according to the Institute of Soils of Cuba, cited by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more than 75% of the country's agricultural land has factors that limit productivity, facing widespread issues of erosion, salinization, compaction, and loss of fertility.