A producer in Las Tunas calls for increased incentives to workers and reproaches the state insurance company for its poor coverage: “Always looking for justifications”
14ymedio, Madrid, November 19, 2025 — The machinery for starting the sugar harvest of 2025-2026 begins to be greased with the doubt about how much planning will go up, in a year that could drown in the bottomless pit that has become Cuba’s former premier industry. The season should be “a watershed” with respect to recent years, Joel Queipo Ruiz, first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguín said last September, and although he was referring to the particular province, the message is valid for all.
Falling below the maximum 147,652 tons produced in 2025 would be disastrous, but it is quite possible. The loss of labor force is one of the factors that adds to the agricultural and technological problems, says José Luis Jomarrón Cera, president of the Diego Felipe cooperative. Located in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, the company is one of the few that are doing well, although the sugar mill to which it delivers the cane — the Antonio Guiteras — remained at 16% of what was foreseen last year, 7,200 of the 45,000 tons planned.
So far this year, he has achieved a good yield: 42 tons of cane per hectare “in very poor quality and dry soil,” he says. In the spring campaign he achieved the goal of planting the 82 hectares planned. “Now we have the land ready to start the cold campaign and plant another 73.4 hectares,” he tells Periodico26, which today interviews the producer to try to understand what is failing in the Cuban sugar industry and how it could be helped.
So far this year, he has achieved a good yield: 42 tons of cane per hectare “in very poor quality and dry soil,” he says
“Producers know how to do it, and we are aware that much can be done,” he says after considering that the sector suffers from the dilemma of whether it is the chicken or the egg. “Should more cane be sown if the industry cannot process it?” the producers ask him. “If the industry does not grind there will be no cane, and if there is no cane the industry will not grind,” he says. This is not the first time that the provincial newspaper has asked the same question: on October 18, it published a long and harsh article in which it directly accused the industry of being “totally obsolete.” For Jomarrón Cera, however, the main stumbling block is the lack of incentives for the workers.
“In the last sugar harvest we were left without collecting 14,000 tons of cane with approximately 28 million pesos to be paid, of which eight would be for expenses and 20 for distribution, which would represent 200,000 pesos per profit for each worker,” he explains.
In his view, the campesino must be aware that he owns the production, and he must be provided with materials and inputs and motivated. “This is not new, but you have to pay them a stimulus for productivity, quality and work discipline. There is legal support for implementing payment systems that take these attributes into account, but there is a lack of materialization,” he says, without going into detail.
The producer states that, despite contradictory data, the government has adopted decisions that have improved the situation — the known 93 measures to strengthen sugar production that came into force in 2022 — and ensures that the State accompanies workers through all institutions, except one entity that is accused of the contrary: the National Insurance Company (ESEN).
“Insurance is too expensive and yet does not cover even 10 per cent of the costs that affect production. There are persistent droughts, floods with large productive and economic impacts, and the ESEN does not cover anything, it always seeks justifications and in most cases it does not show up. This is the general opinion among the labriegos [farm workers].
This figure should be around 20%, but in many companies, they are working with percentages of between 40 and 70 percent
Jomarrón Cera, despite his conviction that the state supports them, has some criticism. “There should be more attention paid to the workers, because right now they are the only asset we have available, and they can generate many of the resources that we lack. We have lost 10 times more than we would have spent on such actions, but we have not paid attention to that strength. We have only had speeches, good intentions and stereotypical phrases.”
In his case, he considers that the cooperative has achieved good results as a result of linking the campesino to the land and achieving a good balance of cane varieties. This figure should be around 20%, but in many companies, he says, are working with percentages between 40 and 70%. “Also, the cane is milled too late because of delays in the harvest.” Jomarrón Cera says that his company is also failing to earn a lot of money. “We had planned to pay, between basic advance and incentive for performance evaluation, up to 17,000 pesos per month, and it was not possible.” But he still gives a weekly incentive to his workers.
The producer, who praises the ability of other countries to make money from the sugar sector, still defends the production model. “The State must give autonomy, but control more. It has to play another part, another role,” he says. And he points out that the cooperative model is a work organization that is “perfect for a socialist model,” which is not sufficiently recognized.” We cannot continue betting on privatization,” he concludes.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
