Ruined by the decline of the sugar industry, a cooperative rents the land to grow beans, rice or vegetables
14ymedio, Yankiel Gutierrez Faife, La Julia (Villa Clara Province), 1 January 2025 — “It was hard work, but it was worth it. Now we have beans to eat at home this year,” says Jorge Luis Pérez. The 46-year-old farmer from Villa Clara decided to plant beans on a plot of land provided by the Dagoberto Cubela cooperative, in a desperate attempt to revitalize its former sugarcane fields, which, this time, is working.
“The land was in poor condition and we had to prepare it with our own hands, but I don’t have any land of my own and this was an opportunity,” says Pérez, who achieved his first harvest in less than four months thanks to the support of his family and despite his limited resources.
For decades, the Dagoberto Cubela was a symbol of prosperity in La Julia, Villa Clara. During the glory days of the sugar industry, the sugarcane fields stretched out like an endless sea of green, reflecting the hope of a community that lived to the rhythm of the harvest. The grinding was an event in the batey, the sugar company town. Curious people came to watch how the combines – an agricultural machine designed in the Soviet Union (KTP-1 and KTP-2) – harvested the sugarcane, and the loaded trucks crossed the town with the sweet aroma of molasses permeating the air.
“It was a different time,” recalls Roberto Machado, a farmer who still works in the cooperative. “All the men in the village were linked in one way or another to sugar. There was work for everyone, and sugar cane was the most common thing in the landscape.”
Over the years, that image faded. The lack of inputs, the deterioration of machinery and structural problems in the sugar industry began to take their toll. What were once lush fields were transformed into damaged lands, invaded by weeds – especially the aroma plant, an invasive plant in many regions of the Island – and marked by abandonment.
“We saw how life was fading away from these lands,” says Marta Álvarez, one of the current directors of the unit. “Year after year, we tried to recover production, but the lack of fertilizers, herbicides and fuel made us fall further and further behind.”
In the last year, the situation reached a critical point. With seven fields planted with sugarcane in terrible conditions, the cooperative was faced with an unsustainable reality: the crop was not thriving, animals were devouring the shoots and the resources were simply not enough to save the harvest.
“The decision to look for an alternative was not easy,” explains Alvarez. “We are a sugar-growing-unit by essence, but to insist on cane under these conditions was to condemn us to the end of the unit.” Thus the idea arose to temporarily hand over the land to local farmers, allowing them to grow other crops while an almost impossible solution to recover sugar production was sought.
Pedro González, a 56-year-old widower, is another who has found in this initiative a way to support his family. “I decided to plant peanuts because it does not require as much effort as other crops. Now I can sell my production and pay the cooperative its percentage without any problems,” he explains.
According to the agreement, farmers assume 100% of the investment and work on the plots ceded and, in exchange, give 30% of their production to the cooperative if they grow basic foodstuffs such as beans, rice or vegetables. In the case of products less consumed in local dining rooms, such as peanuts or sesame seeds, farmers can keep 100% of their production, but must pay in cash the equivalent of 30% of the value of the harvest.
“It’s a win-win model,” Alvarez says. “They have access to land that would otherwise be abandoned, and we get income to maintain the unit.”
Despite the initial success, the farmers of La Julia face the usual difficulties, including a lack of inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, which they must acquire on their own. In addition, the cooperative cannot offer them logistical support, since their machinery is paralyzed by the lack of fuel. This is what condemns this initiative to being a simple survival option for guajiros without access to credit or state aid.
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