Milk production in Las Tunas is constantly debated in multiple scenarios. In all of them, the difficulties and their causes are recognized, but the problem is still there. Staring us in the face and without improvement. The easiest thing to do, from a cold and superficial examination, is to blame the farmers and visualize them as the only ones responsible for not producing more of this food.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- From the outside, one might think that this is the absolute truth, but if we delve into the realities of the agricultural sector, the forms of production, the cattle ranchers, and the environment in which the activity is developed, we will find enough cracks to banish this thought and we would understand, without taking away the guajiros' part, that it is not up to them alone to solve it.

26 Newspaper has repeatedly inquired into the subject, even this year that is just beginning. What motivates these lines was the analysis made last Sunday in the ordinary session of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power in the head territory, in which once again voices were raised to point out to the producers without stopping to think about them, that they are often not supported as what they are: the most important link in the chain.

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Fortunately, some delegates to this government body were categorical in their statements: "Livestock farming cannot advance if farmers are not well cared for; different farmers do not have material conditions, contracting is a very subjective matter and on many occasions is done superficially. We know of those who do not deliver milk to the industry because of the number of fines imposed, and there is too much idle land without producing", they said.

During the debate, the lack of connection between the sector's leaders and the farmers, the absence of a real certification of the amount of milk delivered, and the disagreement with the fact that the plans are monthly and not annual, because no stage of the year is the same as another and these commitments can be recovered. There is no sense in appealing to penalties if, at the end of the calendar year, the contribution is met.

It also became clear that there is no counterpart between producers, haulers, and point chiefs, plus the high cost of basic work materials such as machetes, which today cost 1,200 pesos, and files and boots, whose prices are around 2,000 pesos. Even so, there is no choice but to buy them.

At the same time, they pointed out that some farmers do not prepare themselves for the adverse weather conditions, and that those responsible for controlling the processes know that water is added to the milk, and they know who sells it outside at 60.00 pesos per liter and those who make cheese and sell it for up to 280.00 pesos per pound, all without honoring what was planned. Each of these issues is the reason for the low productivity and deficiencies in marketing, so the control must be deep and systematic.

Juana Yamilka Viñals Suárez, president of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power, asked a question that was not answered: how many times have the people's councils where the units are located analyzed this problem and how many times has the Agricultural Enterprise done so? It was also evident that the Administration Council has not played a leading role in this regard.

Now, the evaluations should not be aimed at attacking the livestock owners. On the contrary, they should focus on how to take care of them. We need to change the way we think and act, because as long as we continue to see the dilemma only from one side, without involving everyone, sales to the state will continue to be around 85 percent of what was planned, cows will not exceed 2.5 liters of milk per capita and animal deaths will once again exceed two thousand. And all that has to change.