Cuba and Japan promote agricultural extension project

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 4 (ACN) Cuba and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, released the first results of the Segranos project to improve the agricultural extension system in the production of basic grains.

This program aims to strengthen the capacities of institutions and direct producers, as well as people related to the activity, through the application of good techniques in planting with quality seeds.

Tatsuhiro Mitamura, JICA representative in Cuba, explained at a press conference the importance of collaboration for 20 years in technical assistance to Cuban farmers through the Grain Research Institute.

The purpose, he added, is to contribute to achieve food sovereignty in terms of import substitution, because despite the need for inputs and existing resources in the country has managed to rescue the value of the variety of grains.

Segranos is implemented in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Avila, Camagüey, Granma and the special municipality Isla de la Juventud, and among its results are the systematization of the agrarian extension structure and the implementation of pilot areas of agrarian extension, based on a research platform.

According to the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Segranos enables the development of creative, innovative and entrepreneurial talent in producers and contributes to economic and social development, both regionally and nationally, through the design and implementation of proposals for technological and sustainable innovation, in response to the challenges and needs of the different sectors of society.

By the end of June 2022, 425 producers had benefited from the agrarian extension systems, with the development of tools and didactic materials on different topics of grain crops (rice, beans, corn, soybeans, chickpeas, among others).