Lambriculture (worms' humus production). Instituto de Suelos - La Habana.

Purpose and goals

1. Evaluation of the progress of organic agriculture, urban gardening and agroecology in the transformation of Cuban agriculture and food production toward a sustainable development, after the crisis of 1991-1993.
2. Evaluation of technical and scientific support to the development of organic agriculture.
3. Evaluation of the sustainability of the new system and conditions for its replication in other Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Description of activities

Family Cooperative - La Habana.

1. Field studies: interviews, visits, observations (family cooperatives, neighbor cooperatives, state cooperatives, NGOs, vulgarization and commercialization centers)
2. Visits to research centers, laboratories and analysis of cases,
3. Participation in some activities: lombriculture, soil preparation, transplantation, serum application, etc,
4. Collect of leaflets, books, written materials systematizing experiences and results in the area of food production, organic agriculture and sustainability.

Different centers and institutions contacted and interests

1. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Fundamentales de la Agricultura Tropical (INIFAT)
Development of urban agriculture,
Recycling of sub-products and production of biofertilizers,
Diversification of production, development of new varieties,
Economic analysis of production

2. Instituto de Investigaciones de Suelo (IIS)
Soil studies and recommendations
Lombriculture: worms and humus production,
Biofertilizers, in general.

3. Instituto de Investigaciones de Pastos y Forrajes (IIPF)
Agroecological farms (fincas agroecológicas): integration husbandry-agriculture,
Rhizobiology and biofertilization.
Development of the "green medicine" in collaboration with the family drugstore and the "family doctor"
Computerization and follow up.

Tree's serum. Instituto de Sanidad Vegetal - La Habana.

4. Instituto de Investigaciones de Sanidad Vegetal (IISV)
Research in plants' protection,
Reproduction of entomophagous and entomopathogens (biological control) Agroecology in the transformation of Cuban agriculture
Preparation and application of serum in trees for protection and treatment.

5. Hydroponics, greenhouses and off-season production of vegetable (Santiago de Cuba).

6.Instituto de Investigaciones Hortícolas Liliana Dimitrova
Program of cooperation with Haitian peasants' organization in the southeastern village of Fondwa.
Production of new varieties of beans, potatoes and different vegetable.

7. UBPC (Unidad Básica de Producción Cooperativa)
LA HABANA:
. Organoponics de la esquina 5ª y 44
. Family cooperative (Habana del Este)
. Vivero Alamar
. Organoponics Expo-Cuba
. UBPC 5 de septiembre
. Organoponics Rotonda de Cojimar

SANTIAGO DE CUBA
. Organoponics héroes de Moncada
. Organoponics Luis Pozo Agroecology in the transformation of Cuban agriculture

8. UBPC markets
. The retail market is part of the unit of production and makes the vegetable available for the neighborhood where they are produced. In Santiago de Cuba where some organoponics produce a surplus they have a bike or horse cart for a mobile market.

9. Popular market (Independent producers and cooperatives' surplus.)

Relationship with my degree goals

Organophonics - La Habana.

My research in organic agriculture and agroecology in the transformation of Cuban agriculture is in direct relation with my studies of the sustainability of agriculture in Latin America. The still prevalent model of the Green revolution is not really adapted to the situation of the increasingly impoverished countries of Latin America particularly of Haiti where I will continue to work after my studies. This model is too reliant on imported inputs that are draining the economy of the country without meeting the basic needs of the population. Cuba has developed its new strategies of food production after the crisis of 1991-1993 following the disintegration of the Soviet Union and a drastic end to the Soviet assistance to Cuba. The MINAGRI (Ministerio de Agricultura de Cuba) had to present quick alternatives in order to prevent people's hunger. The alternatives developed are interesting for many reasons. There is a move

1. from state-own enterprises to a process of cooperativization (more responsibility and accountability),
2. from the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers to an agroecological management of the production (entomophagous, entomopathogens, biodiversity, association, rotation, allelopathy, lombriculture, compost, etc.),
3. from food production centralized in the countryside to urban gardens (organoponics, hydroponics, greenhouses) with direct availability to the consumers circumventing the problems and cost of transportation,
4. from traditional to a more balanced diet teaching the population how to use more available food,
5. from large farm production to small-plot production wherever land (or only the space because in some cases the soil is transported to build the "canteras", the beds) is available,
6. from a "green/modern" technology virtually universal to the development of local research and appropriate technology,
7. from small plot production for family survival to sustainable small plot production with highly appropriate technology and strict accounting and management,
8. from a seasonal production to a production all year round.

Unidad Básica de Producción Cooperativa (UBPC). Market - La Habana.

All the institutes visited are for the services of the units of production organized within or around any urban or suburban agglomeration. Organization, consultation, research, technical assistance, training, supervision and coordination are the pillars of the successful development of urban organic gardens in Cuba. The high level of literacy in Cuba and the good rate of profit in food crops production make the UBPC (Unidad Básica de Producción Cooperativa) increasingly attractive. For example, a cooperative member can have (after the repartition of the net profit) a monthly salary of virtually 1.300 pesos in comparison to the 220 pesos of any public servant.

Many Caribbean and Latin American countries are actually importing technologies and other resources from Cuba in order to develop alternative model of production that will be like the "urban gardens" in Cuba technically sound, ecologically safe and economically sustainable.

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