Working the land is difficult, especially amid so many material shortages. Ensuring that this natural resource is used correctly, and protected, is also important. And it is no less complex to control and enforce the specific tasks that influence food production.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- That is the mission of agricultural workers, who celebrate their Day, with many limitations; but are willing to fulfill the commitment contracted with the people and the main political and governmental authorities of the territory.

There are many entities. Some are in charge of clearing the marabou and moving the earth, guaranteeing veterinary services for the animals, preventing pests and plant diseases, and preparing the machinery. Others produce seeds and eggs, fix roads or take different lines to hospitals, childcare centers, and maternity and nursing homes.

All are useful, necessary, and profitable. Their groups know it well, those who celebrate this October 3 the Day of the Agricultural Worker.

The municipality of Amancio was recognized for the comprehensive management of different tasks, which has been possible thanks to the unity of all factors and the support of the productive forms, according to Misleydi Pardo Castañeda, the delegate of the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) in that territory.

“Such recognition is the result of a large group of people and many actions that result in discipline, organization, and -of course-, food production, which is the fundamental duty.

“The production indicators for milk, beef, and various crops are met. We are happy about the good yields of rice and, on the contrary, we are upset that the necessary progress is not being made with the planting of sweet potatoes so that we have to work hard to meet the demands of the population."

Giving everything of himself to guarantee the food of the people is the commitment of Reinier Pupo Arzuaga, an outstanding young man in his group at the Grain Processing, Drying, and Packaging Plant, where he works as an operator.

“I don't work in search of merit, but I do it because I like to contribute and push forward. I have mastered the whole system and now I work in the packing shed, on the beans side. Not everyone does that because each silo has a type of grain and it is changed manually. If there is an error, the products can be joined, for example, rice and corn."

“Now I am one of the useful ones and I don't have a schedule to work. Sometimes I am at home and at 2:00 am they call me, that there is a cart of beans or rice, that comes from the municipalities, and I have to come. And I stay until dawn."

For Alberto Diéguez López, deputy delegate of the MINAG in the province, having received the Marcos Martí Distinction means more commitment to promoting the agricultural sector, to which he has dedicated 25 years in the accomplishment of multiple responsibilities.

“Precisely, for this reason, I have been privileged; each of the tasks has contributed to my preparation. At different times I attended the activities of seeds, soils, plant health, and fertilizers, and also various crops and urban agriculture.

“I was sub-delegate for Development and Technical Services, MINAG delegate in Majibacoa, and I fulfilled an internationalist mission in Venezuela for four years. They have all been important processes that teach what the actions are so that the sector has more results."

October 3, 1963, was chosen in Cuba as the Day of the Agricultural Worker due to the proclamation on that date of the Second Agrarian Reform Law. Since then, it has been a day of celebration and, above all, of joining forces to meet the population’s food demand.