He was glad to witness the positive results of the gradual recovery of citrus fruits in Matanzas, an initiative proposed and closely followed by Fidel since its implementation in 1967.

Armando Perdomo García, director general of the Agro-industrial Enterprise, recalled that the facility is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary in June, and thanks to its exponential growth now has facilities across four municipalities.

In order to combat the effects of the citrus greening disease, producers in the province are cultivating 1,000 hectares a year in order to revive older and degraded land. To date, a little over 7,000 hectares have been planted, while the aim is to reach a total of 15,000 over the coming years.

During his visit, Díaz-Canel, also a member of the Party Political Bureau, praised the entity’s production diversification program; which includes cultivating over 2,000 tons of vegetables, destined primarily for the tourist sector; a wide range of fruits and livestock development.

The Cuban official went on to praise the enterprise’s development, the result of its economic results, experience, the stability of its workforce, location, easy access and proximity to important tourist areas.

In this sense he spoke about the convenience of automating and computerizing all processes as well as redesigning the processing industry.

Meanwhile, Díaz-Canel also visited the entity’s rice mill in the town of Amarillas, municipality of Calimete, where he learned about investments being made into the rice production program.

Accompanied by Teresa Rojas Monzón, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Matanzas, and Tania León Silveira, president of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power, Díaz-Canel visited the Roberto Coco Peredo Pedagogical School, in the municipality of Colón, where he met and spoke with education sector officials.

(Granma)